Two months after crypto investment company Africrypt collapsed and abruptly ceased its operations, leading South African financial institution FNB is denying allegations that it has banking relations with the crypto company.
FNB is now also insisting that it did not enable Africrypt’s transactions that were instrumental in its two directors disappearing, bringing along with their billions of dollars in investor funds.
It can be recalled that the cryptocurrency-focused business claimed its trading system was breached, leading to its client accounts, wallets, and nodes compromised, forcing them to freeze all their accounts.
All for show
As it would appear, the so-called breach was just a subterfuge, as shortly after the supposed incident, Africrypt directors Ameer Cajee and his brother Raees Cajee allegedly transferred the crypto investment’s pooled funds from its South African accounts through bitcoin on the blockchain.
Reports say the transfer happened back in April 2021 and South African media estimates as much as $3.6 billion in investor funds cannot be accounted for.
Meanwhile, FNB spokesperson Nadiah Maharaj denied the existence of any kind of relationship between the financial institution and Africrypt.
“FNB once again confirms that it does not have a banking relationship with Africrypt. Due to client confidentiality, FNB cannot provide any information on specific bank accounts,” he said.
Fleeing
After successfully taking away investors’ funds, the Cajee brothers allegedly fled to the United Kingdom. This is according to the investigation conducted by local media, which was later on corroborated by another investigation by the law firm, Hanekom Attorneys.
Furthermore, it is also believed that the Africrypt directors utilized mixers in an attempt to disguise the flow of the funds that they took away, suggesting that the billions of dollars were already subjected to mixing services.
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