NTC Global Trade was placed in provisional liquidation last week.
NTC Global Trade was placed in provisional liquidation last week by Judge Sulet Potterill of the Pretoria High Court, just days after Kurt Knoop resigned as business rescue practitioner (BRP) of the firm, citing death threats.
The court ruling also came shortly after Knoop’s colleague and attorney, Bouwer van Niekerk, was gunned down by assassins in the boardroom of his SmitSew law office in Saxonwold, Johannesburg. Four suspects are currently being sought by the police after they fled the scene in a GWM vehicle.
Knoop resigned as BRP of NTC just hours after his colleague was shot dead.
The case, heard in camera (in private) and ex parte (with only one party presenting evidence) before Judge Potterill, issued the provisional liquidation order. This removes NTC from the business rescue process it voluntarily entered in March 2024.
Interested parties have until 6 November 2025 to show why it should not be placed into final liquidation.
ALSO READ: Decisive action needed after murder of lawyer Bouwer van Niekerk, says Cameron
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) issued a warning in May 2024, urging caution when dealing with NTC and an associated company Arbitrawallet, over suspicions they were offering unregistered financial services.
NTC raised close to R500 million by issuing debentures to investors, purportedly for cryptocurrency trading and other business ventures. Arbitrawallet promoted bot-driven arbitrage strategies, looking for price discrepancies on crypto assets that could be bought cheap on one exchange and sold for a higher price on another.
The company’s website, NTCfund.africa – which has been deactivated but is archived on the Wayback Machine – describes itself as an investment holding company registered in SA, offering irredeemable and bearer debenture funds that will be used for financing business expansion, capital investment, debt refinancing, and other services. It also notes that it is not a financial advisor or intermediary.
NTC was accused by several investors and the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) of operating a Ponzi scheme, using funds from new clients to pay out earlier claims. This prompted the public prosecutor in March this year to seek a preservation order against NTC and 35 accounts associated with director Edwin Thabo Letopa, with a combined holding of R176 million. The case was dismissed by the Pretoria High Court on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to prove either insolvency or a Ponzi scheme.
ALSO READ: Motive for insolvency lawyer’s murder unclear as he worked on many cases, says minister
Previously, an attempt was made by 21 applicants in December 2023 to liquidate the company on the grounds of insolvency, fraud, and dissipation of funds after they were unable to withdraw funds.
That case was dismissed on the grounds that it lacked urgency. The applicants were back in court the following month, but this too was dismissed on the merits. FNB and the SA Reserve Bank froze R57.5 million on NTC’s main business account, preventing further deposits and withdrawals. A second call account with R58 million was not placed on hold. This total of R116 million was far in excess of the claims made by the 21 applicants seeking the company’s liquidation.
Last week’s provisional liquidation by Judge Pottterill likely ends any prospect of rescuing the company, as court documents show the BRP was repeatedly frustrated by Letopa in accessing company records and bank accounts. This was the subject of yet another court case in the Johannesburg High Court in August 2025, where Letopa was ordered to cooperate with the BRP and provide it with the information it required.
Ironically, Van Niekerk teamed up with Letopa to defend the public prosecutor’s preservation order, but they later appear to have had a falling out – despite Letopa’s claims to the Sunday Times that there was no bad blood between him and the BRP.
ALSO READ: Director in Bouwer van Niekerk business rescue case also receiving threats — report
Letopa argued in court that the company was solvent and the freezing of the accounts by the bank, rather than lack of funds, prevented investors receiving their payouts. The court agreed, and the company went into voluntary business rescue, supported by several intervening applications by creditors seeking to keep the company afloat in the hopes of getting their funds returned.
The FSCA issued a press release in May 2024 warning that its officials were being impersonated by scammers who were attempting to extort NTC victims via “cloning scams,” soliciting funds to release investment returns.
Knoop’s resignation as BRP in the NTC case seems to have sealed the company’s fate. Though no reason is given by Judge Potterill for the in camera hearing last week, this is likely linked to the assassination of Van Niekerk a few days earlier.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
