Disgraced South African tycoon Cornelius Steynberg, the founder of Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI), has been ordered by a U.S. federal court to pay $3.4 billion in restitution to victims of forex fraud.
The court’s default judgment against Steynberg, who is also the former CEO of MTI, a company presently in liquidation in South Africa, was granted by Judge Lee Yeakel in the Western District of Texas.
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, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The recent order by the U.S. federal court will see the disgraced South African tycoon and his company, MTI, pay $1.7 billion in restitution to defrauded victims and another $1.7 billion civil monetary penalty, which is a record for any CFTC case.
The court action against Steynberg, the man behind the largest Bitcoin fraud charged by the CFTC, comes nearly a year after the South African tycoon was charged by the regulator in July 2022 for allegedly soliciting Bitcoin online from thousands of people to operate a commodity pool
According to the court statement, MTI argued against allegations of fraud, misrepresentation, and misappropriation, which involve at least 29,421 bitcoins valued at more than $1.7 billion by the end of the period in concern.
The alleged victims include approximately 23,000 people from the United States, including more than 1,300 in Texas.
In light of the court ruling, the CFTC has stated that it will continue to vigorously pursue the protection of customers and hold those responsible accountable.
The agency also expressed appreciation for the support provided by the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority throughout the case.
