Coenraad Botha has been fined R216 million ($11.3 million USD) by South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).

Botha, a licensed lawyer in South Africa, has also been disbarred for ten years.

The FSCA’s investigation into Botha, full name Coenraad Barend Nolte Botha, pertains to his CBI Global Ponzi scheme.

The FSCA began investigating Botha in 2022. This led to a securities fraud warning pertaining to CBI Global and predecessor Uhuru Tribe.

In handing down Botha’s penalties on March 28th, the FSCA noted further investigation revealed

there was no legitimate financial product or investment activity that generated the purported returns paid to the investors by Botha and CBI entities.

Grouping Botha in with “fraudsters operating scams”, the FSCA urged South Africans to

act with care when investing their funds. There are many fraudsters operating scams, and the number is growing.

South Africans lose millions of rands every year to fraudsters. Illegal operations are sometimes well-disguised as legitimate operations.

In addition to South African authorities fining and disbarring him, Botha and wife Charlotte Murove were arrested twice in Namibia over the past fortnight.

Namibian authorities have charged with CBI Global related financial crimes. Bail proceedings have been playing out in court throughout the week.

Concerns have been raised about Botha fleeing Namibia for either South Africa or Dubai. Following the FSCA’s fine it seems unlikely Botha would flee to South Africa.

Should Namibian authorities fumble the bag, Botha fleeing to Dubai to escape charges in Namibia and his South African fine is a very real possibility.