Stokvel’s digital investment scam unpacked

An investment scam that promised to usher in the digital era for stokvels has claimed victims across SA and as far afield as Swaziland, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Daily Maverick is in direct communication with investors – amounts invested range from less than R15 000 to more than R500 000 in several cases. Many are afraid to divulge their contact details as they have not yet told their families that they have lost their life savings in a scam. Gerhard van Deventer, the head of enforcement at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has cautioned that although the FSCA is investigating the matter, it has little room to take action as United African Stokvel is not a registered financial services provider. United African Stokvel is also not a member of the National Association of Stokvels after its application was rejected in July 2019. Van Deventer says the FSCA has not handed the matter over to the Asset Forfeiture Unit because there is no evidence of any material funds in the assets that are being investigated. All the money was paid via EFT or debit orders to a Nedbank account. While Nedbank did not divulge when the funds in the account were depleted, a spokesperson said there is ‘zero tolerance’ for all forms of dishonesty and criminality, and the bank takes all allegations concerning the abuse of its accounts for fraudulent purposes very seriously. ‘Where such allegations are received, we will conduct an internal investigation to establish their veracity and will act immediately to block an account if it is clear that such action will prevent further losses,’ it said.