A South African regulator along with the country’s police reportedly seized electronic devices and computers belonging to two main members of Mirror Trading International (MTI), an alleged bitcoin Ponzi scheme. The raid on Clynton and Cheri Marks’ home on October 26 was led by officials from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) who are looking for evidence of bitcoin trading and balances.
MTI remains rebellious
The raid comes after the South African regulator previously advised MTI customers to withdraw funds after determining that the company did not have the required operating license.
However, according to a Global Crypto report citing a Telegram message sent to MTI members, the wayward sender says “everything will go as usual” while the investment firm’s attorneys “are on this”. The sender adds:
The news (media) will sensationalize it, so I would like to warn everyone. MTI will release a video later today or tomorrow. There will be more attacks. This is just to let you know that MTI isn’t going anywhere.
Similarly, a voice message attributed to Cheri Marks confirms the raid by FSCA agents who were reportedly accompanied by 15 officers from the Southern Police Service. However, Marks says the raid “doesn’t change anything” and that scheduled customer pickups will continue.
The MTI team has repeatedly denied allegations against their company and blames the media for attempting to destroy a company that “is working to improve life”. Yet, despite the denials, international and national organizations are firmly convinced that MTI operates externally and is possibly a Ponzi scheme.
Another accusation of Ponzi
Recently, a South African website that tracks complex Ponzi schemes and the individuals who run them added MTI to its list of well-known scams. In its assessment, dishonest.co.za reports to MTI stating that it has had “only one negative trading day since its launch”.
Analyzing the unrealistic claim, the website states that “anyone with basic trading experience knows that it is extremely difficult to avoid losses; almost impossible.” Likewise, the MTI says that 10% of the day’s trading profits are also reported.
Meanwhile, in a South African discussion forum, members discuss MTI’s continuing problems with regulators and how MTI is trying in vain to dismiss the litany of allegations. A forum member points out that Cheri Marks’ repeated assurance that “everything is fine” was used by other scammers in the past before they disappeared. Member John Tempus says:
“Bitconnect also stated:” EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL “and then overnight it went down the drain.”
In her audio message, Cheri Marks insists that everything is going normally and promises that she and Clynton would soon be back online to interact with the members. Cheri implies in the audio that their cell phone was hijacked by FSCA officials.
At the time of writing, the MTI team hadn’t put out the promised video providing their version of the events.
What do you think of MTI’s latest challenge? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
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