WESTERN CAPE – Jaco Van der Westhuizen, 35, has appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday 14 March 2017, over allegations of running a Ponzi scheme, which resulted in ‘investors’ losing just over a million rand.
It is alleged that between 2015-08-25 and 2016-07-11; Van der Westhuizen lured unsuspecting members of the public to invest their money with him and promised them higher than normal returns, which never materialized. The investors suffered losses amounting to approximately R1 078 600-00.
Investigations that began in earnest by the Serious Commercial Crime Unit of the Hawks revealed that the accused was not registered in accordance with the Financial Services Board thus in Contravention of Section 7 of FAIS Act 2002.
The matter has been adjourned until the 7th of April 2017 pending further investigations. He has been granted bail of R10 000.
Hawks would like to appeal to members of the public to always be cautious when it comes to their hard earned money. They should stay away from investment opportunity that appears to offer higher than normal returns. Investing in overnight wealth opportunities is as good as throwing money away. Any investment that looks too good to be true, is usually the case.
