AfriMarkets Exposed

EX-STAFFER: COMPANY 'ONBOARDS 80 CLIENTS DAILY FROM FAKE ADS'

- Ryk van Niekerk

AfriMarkets continues to benefit significantly from fake advertising on social media, using celebrity billionaires and well-known personalities to market investment platforms that promise returns exceeding R500,000 per month on a nominal one-time investment of as little as R4,800.

Moneyweb has been investigating the origin and beneficiaries of these fake ads since early last year. While the source of the ads remains unidentified, Moneyweb has found that Banxso and AfriMarkets are direct beneficiaries.

A recent Moneyweb investigation, where several Moneyweb aliases registered on fake ads and were contacted by AfriMarkets agents, confirmed once again that the platform benefits from these ads and captures individuals' registration information on it.

AfriMarkets is licensed by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), while Banxso's licence was provisionally suspended by the FSCA in October last year.

Who is AfriMarkets?

Moneyweb reported last year that several former Banxso employees claimed that AfriMarkets is virtually a carbon copy of Banxso. Although registered early in 2024, AfriMarkets only emerged as a major platform after the FSCA suspended Banxso's licence in October.

Harel Sekler owns both companies and is a director of both. Warwick Sneider was also a director of both but resigned from Banxso on 7 November last year and from AfriMarkets on 21 November. Mervyn John Ross was appointed as AfriMarkets' second director a few days later.

Nearly 350 former Banxso clients, including many pensioners, have approached Moneyweb, claiming losses exceeding R220 million. Additionally, 12 AfriMarkets clients have claimed losses totalling R20 million.