Africrypt — Brothers Vanished After Claiming a Hack; Losses Fiercely Disputed

Africrypt, a South African cryptocurrency investment platform founded in 2019 by brothers Raees Cajee and Ameer Cajee, collapsed in April 2021 after the founders claimed a hack had drained investor wallets and then instructed clients not to report the incident to authorities — a step they framed as protecting an ongoing recovery effort. Within days of that announcement, both brothers were unreachable. Client funds were gone.

The collapse attracted global attention primarily because of a headline figure: early reports, including a widely cited Bloomberg article from June 2021, placed losses at $3.6 billion, a figure derived from the claimed Bitcoin holdings at peak valuations. That number has not been verified by any regulatory body or court-appointed investigator. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), South Africa’s markets regulator, estimated investor losses at approximately R200 million (around $12–15 million at 2021 exchange rates) based on formal complaints received. Court-appointed liquidators working from documented fund flows put the credible upper bound at roughly $223 million. Independent analysts have cited a $40–50 million range as the most supportable estimate given available records. The gap between $3.6 billion and verified figures is substantial; this entry uses the FSCA and liquidator ranges and notes the discrepancy.

As of early 2026, Raees and Ameer Cajee had returned to South Africa from their years abroad and were reported to be residing inside a gated estate in KwaZulu-Natal. No formal criminal charges had been filed in South Africa. One brother was arrested in Zurich, Switzerland in November 2021 and later released on bail to supervised residence. South African authorities have not effected a domestic arrest, and lawyers for investors reported difficulty serving legal papers as of early 2026.