Surprising new information about South Africa’s Bitcoin Brothers

It was Ameer Cajee who was arrested in Switzerland in 2021 on suspicion of money laundering while trying to access safety deposit boxes they rented in Zurich, MyBroadband has learned.

Cajee has since left Switzerland legally, seemingly while a criminal investigation into him and his older brother Raees is underway.

While Swiss authorities initially detained Cajee and seized his passport, he was later released on bail of 300,000 Swiss francs, and his passport returned.

Raees and Ameer Cajee operated an investment scheme called Africrypt in South Africa from 2019 until 2021, when it collapsed.

They fled the country, briefly turning up in Dubai and Tanzania. The Guardian later reported that the brothers had acquired Vanuatu passports in 2020.

Their movements were unknown to most people until recently. Their current whereabouts remain secret.

MyBroadband has spoken to a whistleblower and former investor who provided more detail about what went on behind the scenes, including how the Cajees orchestrated Ameer’s exit from Zurich.

Africrypt was a scheme that allowed people to deposit South African rands or cryptocurrency and earn returns as high as 13% per month on their investments.

It claimed to have revolutionary trading software, developed by Raees, which used artificial intelligence to generate consistent monthly returns.

The scheme brought in enough money for the Cajees to live large, reportedly driving around in a Lamborghini Huracan and taking up residence in the luxurious Houghton Hotel.

However, it all came crashing down on 13 April 2021 when the brothers notified investors that Africrypt had been hacked and all its cryptocurrency holdings stolen.

By May, they had fled to Dubai. Because it was the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, they could not fly to the UAE directly and had to quarantine in the Maldives for two weeks.

Making headlines

The story flew under the media radar until June 2021, when Bloomberg reported that the brothers had gone missing along with $3.6 billion in crypto assets, worth R51 billion at the time.

This initial estimate of the amount allegedly stolen turned out to be completely inaccurate. The real amount was closer to $40–$50 million (around R710 million).

Regardless, the news reports resulting from Bloomberg’s coverage did exactly what victims had hoped.

Raees and Ameer’s faces were soon plastered all over the Internet. A favourable profile in a local magazine was quietly removed from the publication’s website.

In an instant, they had gone from young hotshots and relative unknowns to accused scammers on the lam.

According to the whistleblower, the brothers fled to Amsterdam to deal with the fallout, which included a lawsuit to liquidate Africrypt, possible civil damages, and criminal proceedings.

Sometime between June and August 2021, the brothers travelled to Zurich, likely on their Vanuatu passports.

On 31 August 2021, they rented safe deposit boxes where they stored hardware wallets containing millions of rands of crypto assets.

Swiss authorities arrested Ameer on 9 November 2021 while he was visiting the lockers.

They seized the assets and placed Cajee in pre-trial detention until 9 May 2022. Days before his release, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Canton of Zurich filed for an extension.

As an alternative, they asked for a security deposit of CHF300,000 (around R5 million at the time) and for a freeze on Cajee’s South African and Vanuatu passports.

The Court of Coercive Measures also ordered Cajee not to leave Swiss territory.

Cajee’s house arrest in Switzerland was extended twice — first until 23 November 2022, then until 25 February 2023.

While the brothers fought Ameer’s detention in Zurich, an “anonymous investor” was trying to settle with victims back in South Africa.

Blind choice between money and justice

Around November 2021, the mysterious investor offered victims a $5 million deal in exchange for dropping their cases against the brothers.

According to the whistleblower, the mysterious investor was none other than the Cajees themselves, hiding behind a company called Pennython Project Management.

They said the Cajees had raised the money for the settlement by promising a new group of people massive investment returns and absconding with the money.

Coast-to-Coast Special Investigations (CTCSI), which represented a group of investors in these negotiations, reported that the deal was closed on 18 September 2022.

Thanks to Switzerland’s secretive approach to financial crime investigations, victims had no idea the settlement helped strengthen Ameer’s appeal against his continued detention in Zurich.

The Zurich Public Prosecutor fought Cajee’s motion, arguing that cases in South Africa being settled did not mean he was innocent.

However, his passports were ultimately returned, and the whistleblower said he promptly left Switzerland in August or September 2023.

MyBroadband spoke to well-placed government sources in South Africa, who confirmed that all investigations and cases against the Cajees had “somehow” been closed.

They also confirmed that Cajee was no longer in Switzerland.

Spokesman for the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Canton of Zurich, Erich Wenzinger, declined to comment on whether Ameer Cajee was still in the country.

He reiterated a statement provided to MyBroadband for an earlier article about the initial arrest.

Wenzinger did not disclose the amount of money seized, which brother was arrested, or the status of the case against them.

“We can confirm that the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Canton of Zurich is conducting a criminal investigation against the two brothers you mentioned on suspicion of money laundering,” Wenzinger told MyBroadband.

“One of the brothers was arrested in Zurich in November 2021 and spent around half a year in pretrial detention. He was released on bail.”

Wenzinger said no further arrests were made in the case, and confirmed that items related to an alleged fraud case in South Africa, namely Africrypt, were seized in Zurich.

“The presumption of innocence applies until a legally binding conclusion of the proceedings is reached,” Wenzinger continued.

“As this is an ongoing matter and for personal data protection reasons, we will not provide any further information.”

MyBroadband contacted Ameer Cajee for comment, but he did not respond by publication.