When MTI CEO Johann Steynberg was arrested in Goiânia, a city in Brazil’s interior, in December 2021, it was the first news anyone in SA – or elsewhere – had received of Steynberg (at least officially).

Yet a number of questions surrounding the arrest of Steynberg, who was reported by Brazilian media in April to have died of a pulmonary embolism while under house arrest in Goiânia, Goiás, remain largely unanswered.

One thing that is certain is the many inconsistencies in the account of his arrest given by the Goiás military police, and the accounts provided by those who were with Steynberg when he was arrested.

The police initially reported that he was arrested for being in possession of two fake IDs and that Crime Intelligence had been onto him because he was wanted by Interpol.

However, having obtained the Brazilian court records pertaining to Steynberg, Moneyweb can reveal that evidence provided by Steynberg’s defence at the time disputes this version of his arrest.

Police claim Steynberg confessed that he had a fake identity document.

He was then arrested.

Once inside his home, police were able to find Steynberg’s passport, and when they carried out an Internet search on him they discovered numerous news articles related to Steynberg’s involvement with MTI, which was subsequently found to be a Ponzi scheme in a ruling by the Western Cape High Court in April last year.

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