The liquidators of Mirror Trading International (MTI) have received 9,441 claims to the value of almost R6.5 billion, a spokesman for the attorneys told MyBroadband.

However, as at 18 February 2026, only R588.5 million remained in the estate, down from the R637 million that remained in its accounts in June 2024.

The liquidators provided the updated numbers in response to questions about figures included in papers that were filed in the Singapore High Court in March.

Interestingly, the latest February numbers provided by the liquidators are higher than the “to date” March figures in the affidavit filed in the Singaporean courts.

“The number of claims increased, and the liquidators are currently updating the lists to include new claims received since 16 February 2026,” the spokesman said.

The liquidators further clarified a statement made in the affidavit that MTI had approximately 304,044 creditors as of 28 January 2026, based on the number of registered users.

“This is incorrect. The liquidators identified 304,044 registered users in MTI’s books and records,” a spokesman for the liquidators told MyBroadband.

“That number includes debtors (i.e., class 3 investors) who made a profit and have no claim against MTI.”

They also said that the value of the claims against the MTI estate would reduce based on the outcomes of the claims’ investigation and objection process, which was about to begin.

Asked how much money they had recovered outside the initial R1.06 billion repatriated from the Belizean broker FXChoice, the liquidators pointed to a circular to creditors from last year.

They said they had added approximately R15 million to that previously disclosed settlement amount. Therefore, in total, the liquidators had clawed back R178 million across more than 690 settlements.

“A total of R22,555,728.00 has been collected internationally in seven jurisdictions in terms of approximately 52 settlements reached,” the circular stated.

According to court documents, there was a single settlement of R113 million, accounting for 63% of all funds the liquidators clawed back.

Put differently, the liquidators clawed back R65 million across approximately 690 settlements, averaging roughly R94,000 per settlement, and R113 million in a single settlement.

They have significantly depleted the funds in the estate to pursue claims worldwide, which include ongoing cases in the United States and Canada, across Europe and the UK, Singapore, and Australia.

Biggest pyramid scheme ever operated in South Africa

Arrest of Johann Steynberg in Brazil in 2021
MTI launched in 2019 and drew in members worldwide by promising average monthly returns of 10%. It also offered members ways to earn substantial bonuses by recruiting more people into the scheme.

MTI collapsed in December 2020 after its CEO, Johann Steynberg, disappeared while travelling in Brazil.

However, the writing had been on the wall for weeks before then, with several members reporting that withdrawals were not being processed or took extremely long.

Shortly after withdrawals stopped in December 2020, MTI was placed in provisional liquidation. A final liquidation order was granted soon thereafter.

Steynberg resurfaced almost exactly a year later when he was arrested in Brazil for using a fake ID, and MTI was ultimately declared a pyramid and Ponzi-type scheme in April 2023.

Steynberg is believed to have died in April 2024 of a pulmonary thromboembolism while under house arrest, awaiting his extradition hearing.

MTI’s liquidators are currently pursuing claims against perpetrators and victims of the scheme alike in South Africa and around the world, in an effort to recover more money for the estate.

They had recovered close to R1.1 billion with the help of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, mostly by sheer luck.

This was thanks to MTI’s former brokerage, FXChoice, freezing 1,281 bitcoins in June 2020 after detecting suspicious activity on the account and conducting an internal investigation.

The first official warning about MTI, issued by the Texas Securities Commission, only came out about a month later.

Thanks to FXChoice’s swift action and the timing of MTI’s liquidation, the liquidators banked R1,057,932,714 by selling the repatriated bitcoins through Luno.

With R588 million remaining in the estate, and considering the additional R178 million recovered and R120.4 million liquidators’ fee claimed in 2023, that means the liquidators have spent R527.1 million.

Source: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cryptocurrency/647174-bad-news-for-people-owed-r6-5-billion-by-biggest-pyramid-scheme-in-south-african-history.html