Johann Steinberg. (YouTube screen capture)
The Hawks are trying to confirm whether Johan Steinberg, a leading figure in South Africa's crypto world and founder and CEO of the Miller Trading International (MTI) pyramid scheme, has died in Brazil.
Brigadier Nomthandazo Mbambo said the force, which has been investigating irregularities at MTI for the past three years, was trying to confirm and verify reports about the 40-year-old's death.
MyBroadband earlier reported, citing Brazilian media, that Steinberg may have died while under house arrest on a farm in the central Brazilian state of Goias.
Steinberg fled South Africa for Brazil in late 2020 following the dramatic collapse of the online trading platform he founded. MTI was liquidated shortly thereafter.
The platform's collapse left tens of thousands of investors who bought into Steinberg's promise of making huge profits for the “little guy on the corner” out of pocket.
He hid in Brazil for a year before being arrested by local police following a tip-off. He was later sentenced to prison for using forged documents.
National prosecutors filed an extradition request for Steinberg in April 2022, but it appears to have had little success.
While South Australian authorities struggled to bring Steinberg home and bring him to justice, investigations into the online trading scheme he set up were underway in other jurisdictions.
In April last year, a US court fined Steinberg and MTI a record $3.46 billion (approximately R64 billion) for “systematic and widespread fraud” against tens of thousands of members. I was punished.
This was the largest fine ever imposed in a case involving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, liquidators are searching for between 3,000 and 10,000 “missing” Bitcoins that may have been leaked through MTI's platform before the market crashed.
