Africrypt Founders Raees and Ameer Cajee Back in South Africa After Years on the Run

The notorious South African duo known as the “Bitcoin Brothers,” Raees and Ameer Cajee, have reportedly made a discreet return to their home country several years following the dramatic downfall of their cryptocurrency investment venture, Africrypt, as revealed in a recent television exposé.

An investigative segment broadcast on Sunday by the program “Carte Blanche” disclosed that the brothers are now living within the secure confines of the Zimbali Estate, a luxurious gated community located in KwaZulu-Natal. Journalists from the show attempted to gain access to the property but were turned away by private security personnel, according to details shared in the report.

The investigative team further tracked the Cajees to a vacation spot in Umhlanga as well as a more recent residence in Johannesburg. Despite these efforts, they were unable to establish any direct communication with the individuals.

Gerhard Botha, an attorney representing one of the investors who alleges losses amounting to approximately $50 million, explained that serving legal documents remains a challenge. “They are well-protected with their own security detail, all because they possess substantial financial resources,” Botha stated during the broadcast.

Africrypt Founders Promised High Monthly Returns on Crypto Investments

Raees and Ameer Cajee managed Africrypt from 2019 until 2021, marketing it as a premium cryptocurrency investment platform capable of delivering exceptional yields. They enticed investors with assurances of up to 13% returns each month, attributing this performance to an advanced proprietary trading algorithm powered by artificial intelligence. The service welcomed deposits in both South African rand and various cryptocurrencies, broadening its appeal to a diverse clientele.

The platform’s collapse occurred abruptly on April 13, 2021, when the founders notified users that their system had suffered a major hack, resulting in the theft of all funds held within it. Shortly thereafter, the brothers departed South Africa, navigating through the Maldives en route to Dubai while international travel was severely limited due to ongoing pandemic measures.

Initial news coverage speculated that losses could reach as high as $3.6 billion, but later probes adjusted the estimated figure to between $40 million and $50 million. To date, the precise extent of the financial damage inflicted on investors has not been definitively determined.

The scandal garnered widespread global scrutiny as the Cajee brothers relocated across several countries, including Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates. In 2021, Ameer Cajee faced arrest in Switzerland during an attempt to access safe-deposit boxes suspected of housing hardware wallets containing cryptocurrency assets. He was eventually released on bail after several months in custody.

South African Central Bank Highlights Risks from Crypto and Stablecoins

In November 2025, South Africa’s central bank issued a warning about the growing threats posed by digital assets and stablecoins to the nation’s financial infrastructure, coinciding with a surge in cryptocurrency usage. According to the bank’s second Financial Stability Report of 2025, the user base on the country’s three biggest crypto exchanges had swelled to 7.8 million by July, with custodial holdings valued at around $1.5 billion at the close of 2024.

Authorities expressed concerns that the inherently borderless characteristics of cryptocurrencies might enable capital to circumvent established exchange-control regulations designed to manage cross-border money flows. Additionally, the report observed a shift in local trading dynamics, where US dollar-backed stablecoins are increasingly supplanting Bitcoin and other prominent cryptocurrencies as preferred trading pairs, thanks to their relative price stability and reduced volatility.

This development underscores the evolving landscape of digital finance in South Africa, where adoption rates are climbing rapidly even as regulators grapple with potential systemic vulnerabilities introduced by these innovative yet unregulated instruments.