A U.S. federal court has ordered disgraced South African tycoon Cornelius Steynberg, the creator of Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI), to pay $3.4 billion in reparations to victims of FX fraud.
Judge Lee Yeakel of the Western District of Texas granted the court’s default judgment against Steynberg, who is also the former CEO of MTI, a firm currently in liquidation in South Africa.
According to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Steynberg has been found liable for multiple charges, including fraud in connection with retail foreign currency transactions, fraud by an associated person of a commodity pool operator, registration violations, and failure to comply with CPO regulations.
The disgraced South African entrepreneur and his company, MTI, will pay $1.7 billion in restitution to misled victims and another $1.7 billion in civil monetary penalties, which is a record for any CFTC case.
The court case against Steynberg, the man behind the CFTC’s largest Bitcoin fraud accusation, comes nearly a year after the South African entrepreneur was accused by the commission in July 2022 for allegedly soliciting Bitcoin online from hundreds of people in order to operate a commodity pool.
MTI fought in court against claims of fraud, deception, and theft involving at least 29,421 bitcoins worth at more than $1.7 billion at the conclusion of the relevant time.
There are roughly 23,000 alleged victims from the United States, with around 1,300 from Texas.
In light of the court decision, the CFTC has declared that it would continue to aggressively pursue client protection and hold those involved accountable.
The agency also expressed gratitude to the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority for its assistance throughout the matter.