A U.S. District Court has mandated that South African firm Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI) pay $1.7 billion in restitution for operating a fraudulent bitcoin commodity pool.
The ruling, announced by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on September 7, brings closure to an enforcement case against MTI and its CEO, Cornelius Johannes Steynberg.
MTI had lured investors with the promise of significant trading gains through a proprietary software “bot” that purportedly operated a commodity pool. However, the CFTC revealed that no such trading bot existed. Instead, only a minuscule fraction of the pooled bitcoin was ever invested, and that too at a loss. The majority of the funds were misappropriated, leading MTI to file for bankruptcy in 2021, which subsequently triggered a fraud investigation by South African authorities.
The anatomy of the scam
MTI had advertised a unique investment opportunity that involved trading intelligence software using Bitcoin as the base currency. Contrary to its claims, the company operated a multi-level marketing scheme. It solicited Bitcoin from investors, promising them participation in an unregistered commodity pool.
The CFTC disclosed that MTI had convinced investors to contribute a total of 29,421 BTC, an amount once valued at over $1.7 billion. The company accepted funds from 23,000 individuals in the U.S. and thousands more globally.
The court’s decision not only requires MTI to pay the hefty sum in restitution but also imposes a series of bans on the company. MTI is now prohibited from violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and is banned from trading in CFTC markets. Additionally, the firm faces a registration ban. A separate default judgment against CEO Steynberg in April mandated him to pay more than $1.7 billion in restitution plus a civil monetary penalty exceeding that amount. It remains unclear how this ruling impacts Steynberg’s personal penalties.
The case serves as a cautionary tale in the crypto world, highlighting the risks involved in unregulated investment schemes. MTI is currently in liquidation, and its website is no longer operational. While the company had reportedly paid its employees in Bitcoin, the CFTC did not comment on this beyond allegations of misappropriated funds.
