The FSCA has imposed penalties of more than R73 million on MyWealth DIAS (Pty) Ltd and MyWealth Method (Pty) Ltd and debarred Charl Francois Coetzee for 20 years.
In November 2021, the FSCA said it was investigating the activities of MyWealth Method to establish whether its business activities were in breach of any financial sector law.
The Authority also warned the public that MyWealth Method was not authorised to render any financial advisory or intermediary services in terms of the FAIS Act, and it was not registered as a bank in terms of the Banks Act.
Around the time the warning was issued, Rapport published an article stating that MyWealth Method was a “Christian-principled” investment scheme that had received millions of rand from investors.
In a statement on 15 March, the FSCA said its investigation found that MyWealth Method and MyWealth DIAS issued, marketed, and sold shares in MyWealth DIAS to the public without authorisation.
“Members of the public bought the MyWealth DIAS shares through the MyWealth Method platform. The investigated parties convinced the public to invest by promising unrealistic returns of up to 400% on the invested funds,” the Authority said.
The investors’ withdrawal requests were not honoured, and they lost their capital and returns.
“There was no legitimate financial product or investment activity that generated the purported returns paid to the investors by MyWealth Method. In essence, MyWealth Method operated a Ponzi scheme. The investigated parties also published misleading information to the effect that they were authorised to conduct the business by the FSCA,” the statement said.
This case illustrates that unrealistic returns are a major red flag, and the public is advised to procced with caution when faced with an offer amounting to an unrealistic return, it said.
The FSCA’s statement said My Wealth Method contravened section 7(1)(a) of the FAIS Act, and MyWealth Method and MyWealth DIAS materially contravened section 11(1) of the Banks Act. The penalty orders, though, cite only the contravention of the Banks Act.
The Authority imposed fines of R58 793 075 on MyWealth Method and R15 065 852 on MyWealth DIAS. They can take the decisions to the Financial Services Tribunal for reconsideration.
The FSCA’s statement names MyWealth Method and MyWealth DIAS as the “investigated parties”. But neither the statement nor the penalty order state how Coetzee is related to these entities, the grounds for his debarment, or which financial sector laws he contravened.
Coetzee’s biography is published on a website called MyWealth Legatus, where he is described as the founder of MyWealth Holdings.
The “About Us” section on the website says MyWealth “is a global wealth-creation system that empowers families to achieve financial freedom. We provide proven strategies, tools, and training to help individuals reach their ambitious financial goals in just 5 to 10 years. Our carefully selected projects offer capital preservation, growth, and generous asset income. We offer a range of traditional and alternative assets, a secure digital wallet for managing digital currencies, and an OTC exchange for direct trading. Investors can also leverage their assets for loans or earn rewards through our credit offerings.”
According to the website, Coetzee founded MyWealth Method in 2014.
“In 2017, after years of some successes and many failures, Charl knew he’d found the basis for creating a sustainable wealth machine. He brought his ideas to a small group of investors, who then spent a great deal of time and money in pursuit of the ideal system of income-generating assets. The result is a systematic formula that can grow a person’s income exponentially through low-risk, high-yielding vehicles over a period of 3 to 5 years.”
The website states that MyWealth DIAS was founded in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, “to support our community through these uncertain times”.
Different entities, same address
According to the website, MyWealth Legatus SPC is headquartered in the Cayman Islands. A physical address is provided but no telephone numbers or email addresses.
The address of the service centre in South Africa is given as Boardwalk Office Park, Phase 5, Block B, 107 Haymeadow Street, Faerie Glen, Pretoria.
The FSCA’s statement said MyWealth Method and MyWealth DIAS are fraudulently displaying the FSP licences of My Wealth Financial Services (Pty) Ltd (FSP No. 49463) and Regenesys Investment Fund (Pty) Ltd, trading as MyWealth Investments (FSP No. 45214).
As at publication, the MyWealth Legatus website was not displaying Regenesys Investment Fund’s name or FSP number. It did state that MyWealth Financial Services is registered with the National Credit Regulator but does not display its FSP number.
The website states that MyWealth Services (Pty) Ltd (FSP No. 45699) is registered with the FSCA, which, according to the Authority’s website, it is.
MyWealth Services’ physical address is the same as that of Legatus’ South African customer service centre. This is also the physical address of MyWealth Holdings, according to its Facebook page.
Apart from staff birthday wishes, the Facebook page advertises that Christian worship services take place at the same address. This is also the address of a church called MyWorship Holdings.
Calls to MyWealth Services’ listed compliance officer repeatedly cut off, and MyWealth Holdings/MyWorship Holdings did not respond to a request for comment.
Moonstone asked the FSCA to provide reasons for Coetzee’s debarment, and whether it could shed any light on the relationship between MyWealth Legatus, MyWealth Services, and MyWorship Holdings. A response has not yet been received.
