After twenty years of investigations, trials, and court proceedings, two forex scammers were convicted in South Africa. Based on the news from a media outlet, News24, the brothers Louis and Peter Henderson were caught in a fraudulent operation worth 6.2 million ZAR ($437,170).
The Durban Court specialized in commercial crimes. However, it sentenced Louis and Peter to 12 years and 15 years imprisonment, respectively, after being confirmed guilty for the fraudulent acts of about 4.6 million ZAR, theft of about 1.6 million ZAR, and a violation of the 1990 Banks Act. The news outlet gave details to the crimes which were perpetrated around 2002.
During the investigation, it was revealed that the scammers started a bogus company in Durban and called it Forex International. They claimed they would offer huge returns to investors on their investments with the company. But instead of returning profits to the investors, the scammers diverted the funds of about R 1.6 million to different personal bank accounts for personal benefits. The Central Bank of South Africa spearheaded the investigation, and the scam was cracked after evidence was collected from about 18 of the victims.
News24 noted that five years out of the entire 15 handed to Peter was because he failed to comply with the instruction of the reserve bank.
The Forex Scam in India Dismantled
Earlier in March, it was reported that the Indian police took two people into custody for a connection in a huge forex scam which got the scammers about Rs. 12 Crore from about 70,000 victims (approximately $1.7 million). The Central Crime Branch stated that the scam masterminds as identified are Syed Ali Hussain from Chidambaram and Syed Abu Thahir from Teynampet.
The police specialized in cybercrime said these two, who are about 34 and 41 years of age, have dupped many persons across the country through two major websites – deltininternationalsolutions.com and deltinfx.com. The scam in the foreign exchange industry was on for about a year since it began in 2019. However, the defendants lured investors into a promising Forex trading scheme where high returns were guaranteed. But the funds were directed to the scammers’ accounts.