Ex-crypto agency chief of VaultAge Solutions declared bankrupt

Up to 2,000 investors are expected to lose 227 million ZAR ($13.3m) after Breedt failed to fulfil his promises of repayment

Willie Breedt, the infamous Bitcoin investor, who made South African news headlines for the past few weeks, has been declared bankrupt.

A report by News24 earlier today revealed that over 2,000 investors in Breedt’s obsolete company, VaultAge Solutions (VS), are to lose around 227 million ZAR ($13.3m) after promises Breedt made to pay out returns their investments did not pull through.

On Friday, Simon Dix, who was one of the biggest investors, successfully applied for a sequestration order against Breedt. His order was granted by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

Dix had entrusted over 7.5 million ZAR. He was from Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal.

Last January, Breedt moved from Krugersdop, located in Gauteng, to the luxury Marina Martinique Estate in Aston Bay, near Jeffreys Bay.

Just two weeks ago, he hurriedly chose to go into hiding after irate investors called in the services of a group of “debt collectors” to locate Breedt and recover their money from him on their behalf.

Breedt managed to open a case of intimidation with the police in Jeffreys Bay before he disappeared. However, while awaiting the verdict of the sequestration application filed by Dix, investigators successfully managed to track Breedt down at a guest house located in the Silver Lakes Estate, in Pretoria.

It was revealed that in a further attempt to conceal his location, Breedt did not book into the guesthouse under his own name but that of a friend’s.

The sheriff of the court, assisted by the police, the Hawks, and a team of specialist crypto forensic investigators, raided a house located in Silver Lakes where Breedt was allegedly using as a hideout since mid-June. This occurred a few days after the order was granted to Dix.

They served the court order while he was with a friend in the medical profession, who also happened to reside in Silver Lakes. During the raid, numerous electronic devices were confiscated, including a laptop and a nano stick.

Earlier, the group of investors was successful in securing a court order to have two South African bank accounts under the ownership of Breedt and vs frozen.

News24 highlighted that rumours regarding Breedt having been arrested on Friday were not true.

The South African Reserve Bank has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to start an investigation into VS and all agents who were involved in selling cryptocurrency on the company’s behalf.