Cape Town – Riaan van Rooyen, one of the liquidators appointed to wind up Mirror Trading International (MTI), has died after being taken to hospital on Tuesday.
According to MyBroadband, Van Rooyen was found at the bottom of the stairs at his apartment and was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead.
The circumstances surrounding his death were unclear at the time, with MyBroadband reporting that the hospital had declined to provide details because it could only release information to family members.
Van Rooyen was part of the team handling the MTI estate. Moneyweb previously reported that he had described efforts to rescue the failed cryptocurrency scheme as unlikely, saying: “I think it is unlikely (that the company can be saved).”
MTI was placed into provisional liquidation in December 2020 and was later declared an unlawful pyramid/Ponzi-type scheme by the Western Cape High Court. Court records show that more than R1 billion worth of bitcoin was held by the company when it was placed into liquidation.
The scheme attracted thousands of investors by promising cryptocurrency returns and collapsed after its founder, Johann Steynberg, disappeared while travelling in Brazil. The Western Cape High Court later declared its business model unlawful.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
