Publications
Partners
In a statement on Tuesday, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) warned the public to be cautious when doing any financial services business with Themba Selahle – also known on social media as @xo_grootman.
Selahle is infamous for being a forex trader and influencer on Instagram who portrays a lavish lifestyle with his fiancée Gcinile Thwala and has been reported multiple times for being a fraudulent trader who swindles unsuspecting investors out of their money.
“The FSCA wishes to inform the public that Mr Selahle is not authorised to provide financial advisory and intermediary services in South Africa. Members of the public should always check that an entity or individual is registered with us.”
The statement adds that he offers to trade in forex on behalf of members of the public. He promises high and unreasonable returns to clients and is alleged to ignore them when they attempt to withdraw their funds or their profits.
According to Swisher Post, before being a forex ‘scammer’, Selahle went by the name Dzaddy Amor and sold iPhones and sneakers on Instagram.
It is reported that Selahle has two children by two different women, Nene Muleya and another who is not known by name.
In May, news of the influencer’s scamming scandals was making waves on social media when he scammed one of his investors.
The trader runs a “special” in which he encourages his followers to buy any one or more of the following items from his package and advises them that, in four days, they will receive the original amount plus a minimum of 200% in profit.
The “Forex package” includes:
- R800 investment for R2 000 returns;
- R1 500 investment for R4 500 returns; and
- R2 500 investment for R7 500 returns, paid out every Friday.
On top of everything, Selahle insists on having investors send him cash to collect at ATMs instead of an EFT payment. When they propose an EFT payment, he quickly shoots down the idea, telling victims that he “has moved to Bidvest Bank and any delays caused by interbank transfers would hurt their potential returns”.
The exaggerated 200% profit margin in less than a week should be the obvious red flag, however, the fact that these victims do not receive tax invoices from him on payment also shows that the trader is most probably operating an unregistered business and not tax compliant.
READ: Reserve Bank to end ‘crypto Wild West’ in SA
The FSCA advised members of the public to not only check that an entity or individual was registered with them to provide financial advisory and intermediary services, but what category of advice it was that the entity was registered to provide.
“There are instances when someone is registered to provide basic advisory services for a low-risk product and then offers services of a far more complex and risky nature.”
