Investors in the South African cryptocurrency firm VaultAge Solutions are planning to file a lawsuit against the company’s CEO, Willie Breedt, for allegedly scamming 2,000 investors out of $17 million. It was reported that CEO Breedt had fled the country to Mozambique in December 2019 after failing to pay the investors. The South African Department of Home Affairs indicated that the VualtAge Solutions CEO had not returned since then.
Fearing crypto scam investors look to file a lawsuit.
After leaving South Africa, Breedt had reportedly cut all communications with his investors except for one email that tried reassuring them that their funds were safe and would be paid back to them. A local news outlet News24 claims that VaultAge Solutions CEO indicated that repayments were to start by the end of May. After receiving no response from the company, investors are now consulting lawyers to proceed with a lawsuit against Breedt. They intend to file an urgent application in the Port Elizabeth High Court this week.
The crypto company lured in pensioners to invest in the alleged scam.
VaultAge Solutions crypto company was launched in 2018 by Willie Breedt, and in its two years of existence, the startup had raised millions of dollars. One investor told News24 that he had invested 6 million rands worth $348,000 into the company. Most of the investors in the crypto startup were pensioners as one investor contended that they are pensioners and invested R200 000 ($11,580). From December last year until April this year, investors received payments on the growth of their investment. Since then, they did not get any money from the company.
The South African company, despite raising millions of dollars from over 2000 investors, VaultAge wasn’t registered with the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA). The number of crypto scams have also increased amid the pandemic. Earlier, the FBI had warned about the potential surge in crypto scams amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
