Fintech company Kastelo chaired by Burke systematically bypassed South Africa's exchange control regulations to externalise R4 billion.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is investigating Kastelo, the fintech chaired by DA finance chair Dr Mark Burke, over claims it moved R4 billion offshore in breach of exchange controls. Picture: Supplied.
The DA has yanked its chairperson of finance and Member of Parliament (MP), Mark Burke, off Parliament’s finance committees after his company, Kastelo, came under the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) investigation for allegedly trying to dodge South Africa’s exchange‑control rules.
The party’s parliamentary leader, George Michalakis, made the announcement on Wednesday that Burke has been removed from parliamentary finance committees.
Burke removed
In a statement, Michalakis said the decision followed discussions with Burke.
“After consultation with Dr Mark Burke, we have decided that out of an abundance of caution, and to avoid any perceptions of a conflict of interest, he will no longer serve on the finance committee or in the finance cluster while a company he is a beneficiary of is the subject of an inquiry by the SARB,” said Michalakis.
“We have now effected that change.”
Allegations
The explosive allegations surfaced that fintech company Kastelo, chaired by Burke, systematically bypassed South Africa’s exchange control regulations to externalise R4 billion.
This comes after the Johannesburg High Court dismissed an appeal by Kastelo, a fintech and cryptocurrency arbitrage trading provider, seeking to unfreeze its bank accounts while the Reserve Bank investigates it.
Acting Judge S. Johnson handed down a decision dismissing Kastelo’s application and ordered costs on the punitive attorney‑and‑client scale.
Reserve Bank
The SARB’s explosive affidavit against Kastelo, founded and chaired by Burke, who also serves as the DA’s federal finance chairperson, paints a picture not of minor regulatory lapses but of outright financial crime.
In a court affidavit, a Reserve Bank investigator said there is reason to believe Kastelo has been using clients’ allowances to move funds offshore for its own benefit.
Burke served as Kastelo’s CEO until June 2024, handing the reins to Nicholas Burke after being called to Parliament following the 2024 national elections, while remaining on as chairman.
Using clients
According to the affidavit, Kastelo allegedly used clients’ single discretionary allowances and foreign investment allowances without their full knowledge, opened offshore bank accounts in their names, and misrepresented its activities in compliance declarations to the central bank.
The allegations include the use of third parties’ foreign investment and discretionary allowances to externalise funds, transactions allegedly conducted without clients’ knowledge or participation, and alleged misrepresentation of Kastelo’s activities in compliance declarations submitted to the Reserve Bank.
The Reserve Bank has already frozen a portion of Kastelo’s funds held at Access Bank, and a broader investigation is underway.
