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South African Ponzi kingpin arrested written By Jan Vermeulen
Clynton Marks, one of the highest-ranking members in the collapsed Mirror Trading International (MTI) pyramid scheme, has been arrested.
This is according to a spokesperson for the scheme’s liquidators, who confirmed that Marks was arrested on Friday, 7 March 2025.
He is pictured above on the right, shaking hands with the late founder and CEO of MTI, Johann Steynberg, after signing a deal to buy 50% of the company the scam operated under.
MyBroadband learned that Marks was arrested for contempt of court after failing to adequately answer questions about what happened to funds he withdrew from MTI.
MTI was the biggest pyramid scheme ever operated in South Africa.
It launched in 2019 and drew in members worldwide by promising average monthly returns of 10%. It also offered ways for members to earn substantial bonuses by recruiting more people into the scheme.
Even using the most conservative estimates for the scheme’s value at the time of its collapse, at least R14.7 billion worth of bitcoin flowed through it.
This dwarfs all other South African pyramid and Ponzi-type schemes for which estimated deposits are available, including Krion, Travel Ventures International, and the Africrypt “Bitcoin Brothers”.
MTI made headlines in September 2020 when a group calling itself Anonymous ZA exploited vulnerabilities in the scheme’s poorly-coded website.
Together with a MyBroadband investigative journalist and community members, the group exposed the inner workings of MTI.
The leaked data showed that Marks occupied two of the topmost positions of MTI’s pyramid. Curiously, he appeared to be higher up than Steynberg.
Steynberg was declared deceased by Brazilian authorities in 2024 after apparently suffering a pulmonary thromboembolism.
Marks allegedly top of the pyramid
Marks’ arrest comes after liquidators seized two multi-million rand properties allegedly acquired with ill-gotten gains.
Last year, the liquidators of MTI obtained an urgent order to provisionally wind up Uprobuzz, a company they allege Clynton Marks used as a conduit for his unlawful profits.
In their original court papers applying to have Uprobuzz wound up, the liquidators noted that Marks was the Head of Referral Programme and Members for MTI.
His life partner at the time, Cheri Ward, was head of communications and marketing. Based on Ward’s social media posts, she and Marks have since split. Ward did not respond to a request for comment.
The liquidators also said Marks was among the top three investors in MTI, having deposited approximately 22 bitcoins.
According to their investigation, he pocketed a tidy profit, withdrawing 220 bitcoins before the scheme collapsed, worth roughly R74.9 million on the day MTI was liquidated.
“All of his so-called profit and returns accrued to him within the scheme from bitcoin subsequently invested by others, and his riches resulted to the detriment of the losers,” the liquidator alleged.
They said Marks milked MTI until the very last moment despite knowing of the imminent collapse of the scheme.
“Even if one is to take only the value of bitcoin as at date of liquidation for purposes of comparison and multiply that value with the total amount of bitcoin invested by Mr Marks, his so-called ‘profit’ to the detriment of MTI and the losers, was in excess of R65 million.”
Marks’ R19-million properties seized
In addition to these profits, the liquidators said they established that Marks and two accomplices withdrew and misappropriated MTI member deposits worth at least R19.45 million to buy two properties through Uprobuzz.
According to the liquidators, Steynberg, Marks, and Don Nkomo had access to and transactional authority over MTI’s Bitcoin wallets.
Although Uprobuzz was registered in Nkomo’s name, the liquidators said it all linked back to Marks. Nkomo declined to comment.
“Uprobuzz was registered as a vehicle for Marks with the specific purpose of holding and accumulating assets as a conduit / front for him and Cheri,” the liquidators said.
“This was to avoid that such assets are registered in their personal name and in order to obfuscate and conceal their conduct and indeed their consequentially acquired assets, from the outside world.”
The first property purchased through Uprobuzz was a plush house in Monteith Estate in Durban North, with an estimated market value of R11.5 million at the time.
The second property is in Pietermaritzburg and is known as Portion 1726 of Farm Cotton Lands.
When Carte Blanche asked Marks and Ward about the Monteith Estate property for a segment it broadcast in 2021, they responded with the following statement:
There is nothing sinister in residing in a home owned by a friend. Our clients relocated to this particular home to be close to the children’s public school. Cheri owns a Jeep — hardly in line with the extravagant lifestyle some social media posts would like people to believe. This is deliberately spread to manipulate angry and upset members to direct their grievances at someone other than Steynberg. Our clients are being threatened daily by investors and although it is understandable why investors are upset, they are used as the “scapegoats” because they did not go into hiding. For the record any funds utilised by our clients are proceeds from trading done outside of MTI.
According to the liquidators, Uprobuzz is indebted to the estate of MTI as funds belonging to members were used to purchase the properties.
For this reason, the liquidators said they moved to salvage possession of the assets.
MyBroadband has learned that following Uprobuzz’s liquidation hearing on 9 December 2024, many of Marks’s other valuable assets have also been seized.
Marks corroborated this when we spoke to him in his holding cell on Monday, saying he was destitute and could not afford a lawyer.
“All I can say to you, man to man, I don’t have anything,” he said.
“If I could afford a lawyer, I promise you, I would be getting totally different treatment.”
Section 417 enquiry
As part of a Section 417 enquiry into MTI, the liquidators demanded that Marks provide details about funds withdrawn from his scheme account, as well as other transactions.
Section 417 is a part of South Africa’s Insolvency Act stipulating that the Master of the Court may convene an enquiry to obtain information about a company’s dealings when it is wound up.
While some of the funds Marks withdrew from the scheme was accounted for by the purchase of property, vehicles, and other expenses, much of it was not.
When Marks did not answer the liquidators’ questions to the satisfaction of the magistrate appointed as commissioner of the enquiry, he was arrested for contempt.
A source with knowledge of the matter identified the magistrate overseeing the enquiry as Petro Engelbrecht.
“She is fair, even nice, but becomes a pitbull if you mess her around,” our source said.
“Her powers are significant, and that is one woman who does not hesitate to use them. Marks was stupid beyond to test her.”
Marks contends that he could not remember the details of the transactions as he was not good with numbers and used Nkomo and another associate, Andrew Caw, to execute transactions on his behalf.
Specifically, he told MyBroadband that Caw invested his funds, while Nkomo handled his withdrawals from MTI.
“I’m doing my best to answer all the questions,” Marks told MyBroadband.
“Unfortunately, my memory doesn’t serve me well trying to remember all these different transactions, and it looks like I’m not allowed to communicate with the people who operated my accounts for me.”
Caw confirmed that Marks was one of Coin Buyers Club’s clients until November 2023, when the entity was permanently closed down due to the implementation of South Africa’s new crypto asset service provider regulations.
“Coin Buyers Club was a Bitcoin brokerage and Bitcoin educator that had been in operation since 2015,” Caw told MyBroadband.
“We helped clients understand Bitcoin then buy, sell, and securely store Bitcoin. We served hundreds of clients over the years.”
Caw said the MTI liquidators subpoenaed him and he provided them with all Coin Buyers Club’s records and transaction history to help in their investigations.
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