Municipality claims they did not chase Sgumza away
“We informed him that he needed to look for alternative premises, but we never asked him to close right away"
WARNING: Bitcoin Wallets customers’ accounts hacked online
Have you lost money to Bitcoin Wallets? Download the affidavit here
Siyabonga Maphalala, who spoke on behalf of Alfred Duma Municipality, says that officials are just as baffled as the public as to why Sphelele (Sgumza) Mbatha closed the doors of Bitcoin Wallets this morning (July 4).
Mr Maphalala insists that Sgumza’a claim that he was forced to close by the municipality simply isn’t true.
“We invited him (Sgumza) to a meeting yesterday to discuss the complaints we were receiving from other businesses in the area. When we inspected his premises after receiving these complaints, we found that he was violating the by-laws in terms of crowd control and public disturbance,” stated Mr Maphalala.
“We informed him that he needed to look for alternative premises, but we never asked him to close right away. We just wanted to ensure that he would put a plan in place to relocate his business soon.”
Mr Maphalala added that, at the meeting, Sgumza had given municipal officials no indication that he intended to close up shop the very next day. Asked what action the municipality would have taken if Sgumza continued to occupy the same premises indefinitely, Mr Maphalala explained that it would follow the usual procedure of issuing a notice to the owner of the property which Sgumza had been occupying, informing the owner that his tenant was violating certain by-laws.
“I do not know if Sgumza is operating a Ponzi Scheme or not,” admitted Mr Maphalala. “I have heard, however, that he will continue operating once he has found alternative premises.”
Mr Maphalala said he would be issuing an official public statement later today.
ORIGINAL COVERAGE: Suspected Ponzi scheme believed to have closed up shop
Also read: Investors hope to hear from Bitcoin Wallets manager
Bitcoin Wallets has moved into an online space and the business states on its website (which still appears to be in the process of being developed), “We could not continue working on the premises due to reasons beyond our control, we are now operating online!” The website further announces a launch date of July 6.
Attempts to contact Sgumza via cell-phone, in order to better understand how the financial transactions will work if there isn’t a physical space available to make monetary exchanges, were met with an invitation to leave a voicemail message. However, his mailbox is full. Up until now, Bitcoin Wallets has been accepting ‘investments’ and paying out ‘returns’ on a cash-only basis.
Sgumza contradicted claims made to the Ladysmith Gazette that he was not the owner of Bitcoin Wallets, but only the manager, when he officially registered ‘Bitcoin Wallets Achievers’ as a private company last week Thursday. Sphelele Mbatha is listed at the sole director of this company.
This follows confirmation from a StripcoSA director that Bitcoin Wallets had been using the company registration number on pamphlets illegally and without her knowledge.
Col Pillay of the KZN Hawks said that investigating officer W/O Trevor Harding met all the relevant role players this week and assured the Ladysmith Gazette that the investigation is well underway.
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