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The South African Mirror Trading International (referred to as MTI) cryptocurrency scam was the largest investment scam globally in 2020 and is one of the largest Ponzi schemes in South Africa's history, involving a scale far exceeding the initially mentioned $589 million.
In 2019, Johann Steinberg founded MTI in South Africa, falsely claiming to possess an artificial intelligence trading robot capable of conducting Bitcoin forex trading through high-frequency algorithms. The platform claimed that investors could participate with a minimum deposit of $100 worth of Bitcoin and promised a daily return rate of 0.5% (equating to an annual return of 500%), while also employing a multi-level marketing model with referral rewards, attracting around 260,000 investors from 140 countries during the pandemic in 2020.
In September 2020, a hacker organization and investigative journalists exposed vulnerabilities in the MTI website, revealing fraudulent trading data. In December of the same year, CEO Johann Steinberg went missing after absconding to Brazil with funds, leading to MTI's cessation of payouts and collapse; the platform was temporarily liquidated that month, and a final liquidation order was issued by the court in June 2021. Subsequent investigations confirmed that the so-called AI trading system did not exist, with only a small amount of funds being invested and all of it incurring losses; the platform essentially relied on the funds of new investors to pay “returns” to old investors.
Upon verification, approximately 29,000 - 46,000 Bitcoins flowed through this scam. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ruled that it must compensate victims $1.7 billion and imposed an additional $1.7 billion fine, the highest civil penalty in CFTC history. The liquidation agency recovered 1,281 Bitcoins from affiliated brokers, which were liquidated to provide refunds to victims. Johann Steinberg was arrested in Brazil in December 2021 for forging identification documents and passed away due to a heart condition triggered by a pulmonary embolism while under house arrest awaiting extradition in April 2024. The follow-up recovery work related to the case is continuously being pursued by the liquidation agency.
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New USDT distribution I will give crypto to you. 4000 people will receive gifts from me. What do you need to do? Just write the word "hello" in the comments and receive a gift 🎁
On the deal, I still hold 0.15 $LAB and bought myself another $STRK selling at 0.19