Brazilian Judge Dismisses Bitcoin Scam Mastermind’s Attempt to Block His Extradition to South Africa – Bitcoin News

Brazilian judges have ruled that Mirror Trading International CEO must remain in precautionary custody as South African authorities already provided their Brazilian counterparts the required documentation for extradition. The judge also rejected Johann Steynberg’s attempts to use his Brazilian family as the basis for seeking an end to his precautionary detention.

Documentation for Steynberg’s Formal Extradition

A Brazilian judge recently dismissed an application by Johann Steynberg — the mastermind behind Mirror Trading International (MTI), one of South Africa’s biggest cryptocurrency scams — to have his precautionary detention revoked. The MTI chief executive claimed in his application that the court should place Steynberg under house arrest, as no extradition request has been filed.

Steynberg stated that he had left South Africa in December 2020 without an outstanding warrant to arrest him and that his case did not meet the requirements that would allow for extradition. Steynberg, according to the Brazilian court document, had also indicated that he has since established a Brazilian family, so placing him under house arrest would suffice.

However, in his ruling, Brazilian supreme court judge Andre Mendonça rejected arguments brought forward by Steynberg. The judge revealed that South African authorities had in fact “presented documentation aimed at formalizing the extradition request [on April 14, 2022.]”

In addition, the judge noted that a warrant for Steynberg’s arrest was also “issued on 03/01/2022 by the Justice of South Africa, as evidenced by Interpol’s Red Diffusion documents.” A document reportedly sent by the South African Public Ministry suggested that the MTI CEO was being probed for his role in the bitcoin scam when he left the country.

Steynberg: A Flight Risk

Bitcoin.com News previously reported that Steynberg had, prior to disappearing in 2020, given MTI funds control to his wife Nerina. However, Steynberg was still reportedly involved in a relationship in Brazil when he was taken into custody by Brazilian police in December 2021.

Addressing Steynberg’s attempt to use his intimate relationship with the unnamed woman as justification for blocking his extradition, Mendonça said:

It does not matter if the extradited person has been living in Brazil or constituted a family. This will not prevent future extradition. As well noted by the Attorney General’s Office, the ‘rule in extraditions is the precautionary arrest, due to the respect reciprocal between jurisdictions.’ The person being extradited, it must be repeated, is with the imprisonment in your country of origin.

The judge added that the fact that Steynberg had fake identity documents at the time of his arrest means he likely has an “intention to evade possible criminal liability.” The judge’s ruling also hints that Steynberg might still violate the conditions of a house arrest should the court accede to his request for one.

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Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara, a Zimbabwean journalist, writer and author who has been awarded the Zimbabwe Booker Prize. His writings have covered the economic problems of several African countries and how digital currency can offer an escape route.