Lawyers representing some of the Mirror Trading International (MTI) investors questioned the accuracy of figures provided by the liquidators as the matter unfolded in the Western Cape High Court, reports Moneyweb.

The liquidators suggest that more than 300 000 investors from around the world were lured into the scheme with promises of earning up 10% a month on deposited bitcoin (BTC).

MTI was rated by Chainanlysis as the world’s largest crypto scam of 2020.

The founder Johann Steynberg fled the country in December 2020 when investors’ requests for withdrawal of funds were stonewalled. Steynberg was arrested late last year in Brazil.

The liquidators recovered 1 281 bitcoin from a Belize-based broker called FX Choice, and subsequently sold these for roughly R1.3bn.

In a statement last week, the liquidators claim one of the ‘masterminds’, Clynton Marks, made off with R30m of investors’ money two months before the crypto scam imploded, though there appears to be no supporting evidence before the court, where multiple cases are under way between the liquidators and MTI investors.

Meanwhile, Marks and another MTI investor, Henry Honiball,  have asked the court to remove the six court-appointed liquidators from the case, accusing them of dishonesty and fraud.

The only claim to be admitted by MTI liquidators is a claim for R6.2m from JNX Online, a company set up by Steynberg and his wife Nerina.

Marks and Honiball argue that the liquidators needed a friendly ‘creditor’ to approve the resolutions proposed by them.

They say those resolutions are so broad that it allows the liquidators to run up costs at their expense, and indemnifies them from any losses or claims for damages arising from the business.

The liquidators say the case by Marks and Honiball is an attempt to postpone another case to declare MTI a Ponzi scheme.

This case will resume on 31 May 2022.

Full Moneyweb report