Former CEO of Mirror Trading International, Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, is thought to have passed away due to a pulmonary thromboembolism while in Brazil awaiting his extradition hearing.
According to a South African media outlet, his lawyer, Thales Jayme, revealed the death, and a death certificate that appeared online suggests that the South African fugitive suffered acute respiratory failure followed by sudden death due to a massive bilateral pulmonary thromboembolism.
It was also said that he was a chronic smoker and had been facing a series of escalating mental health problems. The lawyer reportedly took Steynberg to a doctor on April 15 2024, when he was diagnosed with a severe case of anxiety.
According to Jayme, days before he died, Steynberg’s wife told the lawyer that he was behaving strangely. He called the state emergency medical services, which took the man to Goiânia, a city in Brazil. He was reportedly buried on Wednesday April 24 2024 in Jardim das Palmeiras, Goiânia.
According to the media outlet, the lawyer said he was awaiting a review by the National Committee for Refugees, which was handling the extradition case.
In an official report of Steynberg’s death, his wife (Karine Amelya) declared that he did not have any assets to be inventoried and that she was unaware of the existence of a will.
Steynberg fled South Africa for Brazil in late 2020 after the collapse of the online trading platform, Mirror Trading International (MTI), which he founded.
Members bought into MTI with a minimum of $100 worth of bitcoin, or a minimum of $200 if they wanted to qualify for bonuses under the company’s multi-level marketing system.
The scheme, which was declared to be by far the biggest scam in 2020 globally, is thought to have received between 29,421 to 46,000 bitcoins and is the biggest pyramid or Ponzi-like scheme in South Africa’s history.
MTI was liquidated soon after its collapse.
South Africa’s Mirror Trading International (MTI) Was By Far 2020’s Biggest Scam Globally, Says Chainalysis 2021 Crypto Crime Report: https://t.co/pHvDoQ5jqg @chainalysis @FSCA_ZA 🇿🇦
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 12, 2021
After evading authorities in Brazil for a year, he was apprehended by local police based on a tipoff. Subsequently, he received a prison sentence for the use of counterfeit documents.
🇿🇦CRYPTO FRAUD | CEO of South Africa’s Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme, Mirror Trading International (MTI), Arrested for ID Forgery in Brazil
In 2021, the scam was declared by Chainalysis as ‘by far biggest cryptocurrency scam in 2020 globally,’ The firm received over half of its traffic… pic.twitter.com/r6k0K1fSPS
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) August 17, 2023
Despite South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority’s submission of an extradition request for Steynberg in April 2022, it seems that there has been minimal progress or action taken on it.
In October 2023, it was reported that South African victims of the Mirror Trading International (MTI) bitcoin scam would start receiving refunds from the firm’s liquidators.
🇿🇦 SCAM | Nearly 8,000 Victims of the South African Bitcoin Scam, MTI, to be Refunded by Liquidators
Liquidators were able to recover 1,281 bitcoins that MTI’s former brokerage, FXChoice, had frozen which they immediately sold on the South African cryptocurrency exchange Luno,… pic.twitter.com/bmRSJ8xzeE
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) October 12, 2023
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