Crypto fraud shock: Batswana lose millions to scams
Friday, June 03, 2022 | 6190 Views |
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People walking in main mall. PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG
The poor response comes as a report from the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) indicates a 400% increase in the value of suspicious transaction reports received last year, with cryptocurrency scams leading the pack.
Under the Virtual Assets Act passed in February, all operators of cryptocurrency and other virtual assets offering these within Botswana were required to have approached NBFIRA by May 31 or face fines of up to P250,000 and/or five years in jail, should they continue operating. The new law, which Parliament passed in line with anti-money laundering global best practice covers Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs).
The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...