In 2020, I invested R5000.00 in the MTI ...

Asked by Tanya on 04-10-2024 11:31:18
Question posted in the General Law category relating to Western Cape

In 2020, I invested R5000.00 in the MTI scheme. When I needed to flee from Dubai, I had to withdraw this and received R11943.24. They now demand that I pay them R90000 at the current BITCOIN rate. Surely that is not on. If not, they want me to complete a full assets document to prove that I cannot afford to pay them. I received a summons in the name of MTI.

I am committed to repaying them the profit of 6943.24, but surely not R90000.

Is there a lawyer who has done these cases and who I can reach out to? Or somebody who can tell me what is the correct way to handle this.

Message from the Lawyer

Posted by Att. Patrick on 07-10-2024 12:18:54

Hi there and thank you for your question,

I am a practicing attorney based in South Africa and I will assist you with your question. Please feel free to ask as many follow up questions in order to clarify your question. If you have a new question, you must please open a new thread.

Please keep in mind that our discussions is for general information purposes only. Our engagement on this website does not create an attorney-client relationship. 

Unfortunately, you are 100% correct in your understanding.

The reason for this is that you didn't actually invest R5000 into the MTI scheme. Rather, you used your R5000 to purchase Bitcoin and then you invested the Bitcoin into the MTI scheme. The Bitcoin that you invested is similar to any other asset that you might have invested.  Later, you withdrew the Bitcoin which was then worth a lot more. 

So what the liquidators are doing (in relation to their primary claim against you) is NOT looking at the value of the Bitcoin that you invested or withdrew, but rather they are saying "give us the Bitcoin back that you drew out, and if you no longer have the Bitcoin then you will need to go buy Bitcoin at today's value and give that to us".

It is only in the liquidator's alternate claim that they are saying "give us the Rand value of the Bitcoin that you drew out of the MTI scheme".

What you should be doing is to offer to pay the liquidators the profit - as you have explained it - and hope that they accept that in settlement of their claims. 

Given that the claim against you is actually quite small, hopefully they will agree to that. 

If you would like to view the entire answer, you will need to either login or register a FREE account.

Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: Advice or answers from Lawyers on South African Legal Advice are not substitutes for the proper advice of an Lawyer. South African Legal Advice is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Lawyer who assists with your question is not your Lawyer, and the response above is not to be considered to be legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains. The responses above are from individual Lawyers, not South African Legal Advice. The site and services are provided “as is”. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service.