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The brothers behind Africrypt, a so-called cryptocurrency investment platform that they claim was hacked, may be hiding from more than just the law.

Ameer Cajee and Raees Cajee have been accused of disappearing with billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin, although they have denied any wrongdoing.

That’s less believable when you factor in that they had previously started another investment scheme in May 2019, and told investors that also fell victim to hackers.

It’s also understood that the day before the Cajee brothers left South Africa, they sold a Lamborghini, a Ferrari, and two properties.

Having sacked their legal representation, the Cajee brothers granted an interview to The Wall Street Journal, where they claimed that less than $5 million (around R71 million) was lost when their platform was hacked.

That amount is disputed by attorneys representing a group of investors, who say current claims against Africrypt from that group alone could reach R500 million.

Some are going the legal route to try and recoup their losses. The Cajee brothers might have bigger worries.

A source who spoke with MyBroadband says the brothers “stole from the wrong guy. There is nowhere on Earth they can hide.”

The man in question is Juan Meyer, a former business associate of Czech gangster Radovan Krejcir, who amaBhungane described as “a West Rand gold smuggler and illegal refinery owner”.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that there is no way you steal Meyer’s money and get away with it for long.

“This is a man who took on Krejcir for years before it was cool,” they said.

Krejcir, who is currently behind bars inside Jozi’s Leeuwkop maximum security prison, did business with Meyer back in the day, before Meyer was arrested in 2010.

Meyer claims he was set up by the Czech crime boss, and later spoke out about Krejcir’s criminal activities.

You have to be pretty fearless to take on Krejcir, who was sentenced to 35 years in jail in 2015 for attempted murder, kidnapping, and drug dealing.

Meyer’s connection to Africrypt became public because he launched the application to liquidate the company on 19 April 2021.

He filed the application on behalf of his company, Badaspex (Pty) Ltd, for R41 million.

In that interview with The Wall Street Journal, Raees alluded to the fact that they’ve upset the wrong people, saying “some particularly very, very dangerous people – that we had not actually known were clients – have started to come out of the cracks.”

Meyer says he has previously tried to confront the brothers, including an April visit to a hotel where Ameer was staying, but denies having made any threats.

The exact whereabouts of the brothers is still unknown, but I’m getting strong Liam Neeson Taken vibes with this story.

People have very particular sets of skills, acquired over a very long career, that make them a nightmare for people like the Cajee brothers.

Perhaps if they come forward to face the music, they will not be pursued, but if they don’t…

[source:mybroadband]