Capitec bank has closed 2000 bank accounts linked to the MMM scheme.
Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie told Fin24 in an interview on Friday that the accounts were closed to protect the bank’s clients.
“We actually closed over 2 000 accounts that (were) involved in the scheme. Some of the clients became extremely violent and we had to bring in security guards.” Fourie said.
He also said that after the bank was made aware of the scheme the MMM accounts were monitored and then frozen in early 2015.
The MMM Ponzi scheme has been in the headlines a lot recently.
Founder Sergey Mavrodi announced that MMM Global scheme was shutting down because it was not able to pay out the benefits.
“We regret to inform you that we have to close down the Republic of Bitcoin. It was an experiment, and, unfortunately, it failed,” said MMM Global on Facebook. “We turned out not to able to pay 100% per month.”
The scheme’s local branch, MMM South Africa, is one of the companies that are being investigated by the SA Police Service Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit establish whether they contravened the Consumer Protection Act.
The annual report of the South African Reserve Bank's (SARB) bank supervision department recently released a document showing that the total number of organisations under review for operating as illegal deposit-takers - also known as pyramid schemes - rose to 41 in 2015 compared to 25 in 2013.
The regulator has closed down 71 schemes since 2011.
Capitec bank closes 2000 MMM bank accounts
Capitec bank has closed 2000 bank accounts linked to the MMM scheme.
Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie told Fin24 in an interview on Friday that the accounts were closed to protect the bank’s clients.
“We actually closed over 2 000 accounts that (were) involved in the scheme. Some of the clients became extremely violent and we had to bring in security guards.” Fourie said.
He also said that after the bank was made aware of the scheme the MMM accounts were monitored and then frozen in early 2015.
The MMM Ponzi scheme has been in the headlines a lot recently.
ALSO READ: Former EFF MP Andile Mngxitama joins MMM scheme, to report back in a month
Founder Sergey Mavrodi announced that MMM Global scheme was shutting down because it was not able to pay out the benefits.
“We regret to inform you that we have to close down the Republic of Bitcoin. It was an experiment, and, unfortunately, it failed,” said MMM Global on Facebook. “We turned out not to able to pay 100% per month.”
The scheme’s local branch, MMM South Africa, is one of the companies that are being investigated by the SA Police Service Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit establish whether they contravened the Consumer Protection Act.
The annual report of the South African Reserve Bank's (SARB) bank supervision department recently released a document showing that the total number of organisations under review for operating as illegal deposit-takers - also known as pyramid schemes - rose to 41 in 2015 compared to 25 in 2013.
The regulator has closed down 71 schemes since 2011.
READER LETTER - The crash of MMM is soon, it is only a matter of time
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