The company describes itself as a “zero-commission online trading platform.”
TTwo pensioners who lost their retirement savings of R1.71 million after investing on Banko's trading platform are furious at the company's offer to repay less than half the amount in instalments over five months.
Zona and Chris Bruins, who put their life savings into the platform, are among a number of investors who claim to have been contacted by Bankso consultants after clicking on deepfake adverts featuring celebrities and businessmen such as Elon Musk, Johan Rupert and Nicky Oppenheimer, promising big profits for an investment of at least R4,800.
People then allegedly invested the funds using online trading platforms based on the trading advice of Banxso's “success managers.”
Bancho's chief operating officer, Manuel de Andrade, had previously denied any connection to the deepfake ads made by Immediate Matrix, a company the Financial Sector Conduct Authority warned consumers to avoid in December. But the ads have resurfaced on Facebook and YouTube in recent weeks, re-“featuring” celebrities such as state broadcaster SABC anchor Leanne Manas and African Rainbow Minerals founder Patrice Motsepe.
Motsepe said this week that he was aware of the deepfake ads but that he and African Rainbow Minerals had nothing to do with them or Bankso.
“Any unauthorised use of our personal information and corporate brand is unlawful and will therefore be treated seriously,” he said.
“Our attorneys are investigating and identifying appropriate civil and criminal charges to be initiated.”
SABC acting group executive for corporate affairs and marketing Moni Seapolello earlier said “future legal action cannot be ruled out”, while Oppenheimer Generations, the organisation which represents the global interests of Nicky and Jonathan Oppenheimer and their family, said advertisers had “unlawfully” used his identity and that it was following “legal procedures”.
Zona Bruins said this week that she and her husband were struggling to recoup their money after Bancho staff allegedly encouraged them to invest more and more into the platform as losses mounted.
Their ordeal began in November 2023, when Bruins clicked on a deepfake advert on Facebook, which showed Manas instructing a colleague on how to invest R4,700 with Immediate Matrix, which she advertised as an “automated investment platform”.
“I deposited R5,000 and within seconds I received a call from someone called 'Marinos' from Bancho, who claimed to be my success manager. He transacted with me a few times but I felt uneasy about the situation so I withdrew my money,” Zona Bruins said.
“I then researched Banxso and found out that it is a licensed, registered and regulated company. I also called Banxso and found out that Marinos is an employee of the company based in Greece.”
Bruins said Marinos called her and tried to persuade her to “deposit more money so you can make a decent profit. He will help you do that.” She deposited R60,000 into the trading platform, but then received a call from a consultant called “George” who told her to deposit more money to avoid losing the R60,000, so she deposited R50,000.
“They called again soon after and said they needed more funds. I told them I didn't have any money and watched as the money in my account dried up,” she said.
She then received a call from “Dale” informing her that a R100,000 “recovery bonus” was now available on the platform, and he promised to help her get her lost money back.
“Dale called every day to make some small transactions and get us to promise not to do any transactions on our own. He seemed proud of his work and Bankso seemed to be trying to take responsibility for the role they played in our losses. He knew we were pensioners and had big dreams of going to Portugal to be closer to our children and grandchildren who they hadn't seen since before COVID. They ask these questions in advance,” she said.
“After numerous phone calls and promises that I would have some money by September to make my Portuguese dream come true, [after the company gave] R15,000 credit bonus, R1 million deposited [on 14 March 2024]. “
Bruins said she and her husband repeatedly told Bancho that they did not have the skills to trade and could not afford to lose money, but were assured by Bancho's success managers that they were professionals and were required by law to protect their customers. They also said they could withdraw their funds from the platform.
“We started trading in rand but were then encouraged to convert our money into dollars as it would be easier to trade that way. We later found out this was a ploy to prevent us from withdrawing our money as we would have to convert it into rand first,” she said.
Investments began to suffer “significant losses.”
“The nightmare began when I couldn't withdraw my money. I realised I had been scammed but I was at risk of losing all the money I had already deposited and had no idea how to get out of the situation. I felt helpless and alone,” Bruins said.
“Then I got a call from 'Oli': we need more money injected, even if it's just for a few days, or we risk losing it all. A minimum of R500,000, and we'll become an exclusive client, plus a credit bonus of $10,000.”
In an attempt to save the R1 million, the couple put a further R500,000 into the platform, but then they received another call from Oli to tell them their account was again in trouble and they were at risk of losing all their money.
“They wanted to help us manage our accounts properly. [were] “They were going to inject $60,000 from their side, but we needed to put in more to prove their contribution,” she said.
“We were told we should save more money because we are pensioners and have a lot of money. We ended up looking around and putting R100,000 in on April 11 but only got a call back on April 19, more than a week later,” she said.
The account was again experiencing large losses, and yet another consultant, “Oscar,” called and tried to persuade the couple to deposit another $6,320, but the couple refused.
“We found ourselves in sinking sand with no way out. Our funding was unavailable and remains unavailable, but nobody cares,” Bruins said.
“Promises were made periodically to lure us into this little scheme.”
She said Bancho offered to refund the couple R600,000 “unconditionally” but they refused, demanding a full refund.
John Joost, who says he lost R204,800 after clicking on a deepfake ad featuring Musk that led him to the Bankso trading platform, is similarly upset after the company initially offered him a refund of just R4,800, before making a new offer to pay R50,000 over three months.
The Mail & Guardian approached Bankso for comment about the two complaints, and about the rampant advertising which appears to be directing investors to the company's consultants, but the company did not respond directly to questions.
Instead, the company's lawyer, Hendrik Theron, responded: “We do not intend to address every aspect of your communications and expressly reserve to our client the right to do so at a later stage if necessary.”
“Unfortunately, as this matter is currently under consideration in multiple forums and before the courts, our client is not in a position to substantively answer your questions at this time.
“However, we can confirm that we have allocated significant resources to ensure that all customer complaints and enquiries, regardless of their nature, are dealt with in the most prompt and expeditious manner possible.”
In April, the FSCA said in a statement that it was “investigating possible breaches of the Financial Sector Act by Bancho” and that the company was cooperating with the investigation, a point confirmed by De Andrade at the time.
“The investigation follows several complaints received by the FSCA in relation to Bankso's conduct and is of the opinion that the allegations should be investigated. The FSCA emphasises that the investigation is not complete and no findings have been made to date,” the authority said.
The FSCA did not respond to further questions on the matter this week.
Authorities are urging anyone with information to contact authorities by email. [email protected] Please write “Banxso Investor” in the subject line.
