Some investors who invested in the South African bitcoin pyramid scheme MTI are set to receive part of their money back once a court rules on how liquidators are supposed to handle claims. Liquidators expect to make more than one payout to affected investors while the process itself is expected to last between two and three years.
Net Losers to Get Between 50% and 60% of Their Money Back
The liquidators of Mirror Trading International (MTI), an online bitcoin investment scam, are planning to start refunding victims once a court advises them on how to handle the claims, a report has said. According to Herman Bester, a co-director at Tygerberg Trustees, liquidators also want the court to clarify how deposits received from investors in the form of BTC are to be treated.
However, according to a report in Mybroadband, Bester and his colleagues stopped short of confirming a plan that will see the so-called net losers only getting between 50% and 60% for every dollar they invested. The funds for the reimbursement scheme would be obtained from the sale of approximately 7,000 BTC. These are the coins remaining from the more than 39,000 BTC that liquidators say were initially deposited into the scheme.
Concerning the number of users that are set to benefit from this scheme, Bester reportedly said liquidators were already in the process of identifying and distinguishing individual investors from the rest of the victims. He added:
“Our forensic experts, after a meticulous process of clustering, calculated now the expected number of potential claims.”
Meanwhile, the liquidators said they do not expect all victims, especially those suspected of using crypto to launder money or for other “dubious purposes,” to submit claims.
With respect to the timeframe for reimbursing victims, the liquidators reportedly said they hope to make more than one payment since they expect “to continue with collections from winners who must repay their winnings.” Bester said liquidators expect this to “continue for at least another 2–3 years.”