Africa-Press – South-Africa. The liquidators for bitcoin Ponzi scheme Mirror Trading International (MTI) say they have reached a R283-million settlement with the SA Revenue Service (SARS) after months of negotiations.
The tax agency last year put in a claim of R931 million in back taxes and penalties against MTI, which collapsed in December 2020 after it stopped paying out funds to tens of thousands of members.
MTI’s liquidators initially objected to the claim, saying the company owed no tax as it had never made a profit.
The two sides have now agreed to settle the tax dispute for around R648 million less than what SARS had demanded. The settlement still needs to be endorsed by a court.
“The agreement is in full and final settlement for all pre-liquidation claims against the company and in respect of both the 2020 and 2021 years of assessment,” said MTI in a statement.
“All additional taxes in respect of under-statement penalties have been waived in full.”
The agreement means there will be more available in the “pot” for creditors and investors who lost hundreds of millions of rands when MTI collapsed.
Its liquidators have recovered 1 281 bitcoin – which they have already cashed in for just over R1 billion – from FXChoice, an online forex broker which froze MTI’s assets three years ago.
But they have still not tracked down thousands more bitcoin that allegedly flowed through the site.
Last month, a US court found that MTI founder Johann Steynberg “misappropriated” an eye-watering 27 574 bitcoin.
In proceedings before SA courts, estimates of the number of “missing” bitcoin have ranged from around 3 000 to 10 000.
Steynberg, who according to the US case was the kingpin behind the Ponzi scheme, has been in a Brazilian jail for the past 16 months awaiting a hearing to determine whether he should be extradited to South Africa.
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