South African Exit Scam Reportedly Steals Millions from Investors

VautAge Solutions has had its CEO been accused by South Africa’s cryptocurrency investors. Particularly, these investors accused him of stealing millions of USD worth of crypto, before going on the run.

Willie Breedt Accused Of Crypto Fraud

According to a report made by AllAfrica, the CEO of the crypto investment firm, VaultAge Solutions, Willie Brreedt, is suspected to be on the run. This comes as a result of not making any form of public communication since December of 2019. According to the report, Breedt had been speculated to have lived near the town of Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. However, as it stands now, his exact whereabouts are unknown, but the country’s criminal investigation unit is searching high and low.

However, the South Africans who invested their hard-earned crypto into the now-defunct firm fears that Breedt may have already fled the country, headed for Mozambique.

Heavy Losses From Victims

Breedt stands accused of stealing millions from Bitcoin System investors. The report itself claimed that Vaultage Solutions was not registered by the South African regulator, the Financial Services Conduct Authority. Thus, the firm was not registered as a legitimate financial institution even if it had managed to garner more than 2,000 investors towards it.

Lettie Engelbrecht stands as one of these investors. She, a pensioner, had invested 200,000 ZAR into the firm, or approximately $11,470 at the time of writing. She explained that from December of last year to April of this one, they had actually received payments on the “growth” of their investments. However, Engelbrecht explained that they have not received any money after, and have been living on a shoestring budget ever since.

Another investor from South Africa had allegedly deposited an investment of 6 million ZAR, or approximately $344,000 into the firm itself.

A Small Public Statement

What’s interesting, is that Breedt had actually responded to a local news outlet, News24, regarding the matter as a whole. According to his statement, the man is currently busy with other commitments that he has been forced to attend to. He gave his assurances that the initial capital for the investors will be paid back by the 31st of May, 2020.

It’s a sad day indeed when such a scam is revealed. While Breedt himself has given a statement assuring the public that he plans on returning the funds, there’s a lot of warning signs here that it is, in fact, just an exit scam. With any luck, the investors who were wronged will manage to gain their funding back.