After a gruelling 10-year legal battle, 56-year-old former pastor and forex trader Colin Davids and his co-accused, 58-year-old Derek Bredenkamp, have been found guilty of orchestrating a R329 million Ponzi scheme through their company, Platinum Forex CC.
The Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court delivered the verdict on Tuesday, 10 June, as reported by Cape Argus , marking the end of a case that began in 2015.
The rise and fall of a fraudulent pastor-turned-forex fraudsterOn 20 April 2017, the South African Police Service released a statement detailing that the Cape Town High Court delivered a pivotal judgement in the case against Colin David.
The judge expressed sympathy for defrauded investors, many of whom had sought secure returns on their hard-earned money. He commended the Asset Forfeiture Unit AFU for freezing approximately R100 million of the R300 million initially invested, funds now under a court-appointed curator for reimbursement.
At the time, Davids was out on R100 000 bail, with the Hawks Serious Commercial Crimes Unit actively investigating further charges under the FAIS Act and Banks Act. The public was warned against too-good-to-be-true investment schemes.