As three suspended senior figures at Africa Bitcoin Corporation (ABC) gear up to fight a Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) enforcement order, well-known tech personality Stafford Masie has stepped into the CEO role.
With the executives suspended, Masie, an existing ABC executive director, director of Bitcoin strategy and Bitcoin advocate, is now interim CEO.
The FSCA yesterday published sanctions against now former CEO Warren Wheatley, former CIO Akshay Karan and Wheatley’s wife, Tatum Keshwar-Wheatley, who headed the company’s media and investor relations function.
The sanctions relate to alleged share manipulation the FSCA says happened at a time when they held these positions at Altvest Capital, which was renamed Africa Bitcoin Corporation last September.
South Africa’s financial sector watchdog says the three worked together to artificially inflate Altvest’s share price and create a misleading impression of demand and trading activity while the company was listed on the Cape Town Stock Exchange.
Altvest listed on the Cape Town Stock Exchange in May 2022, where it remained until October 2024, when it moved to the JSE’s AltX. The alleged share manipulation took place in September 2022, just four months after its initial listing.
No comment
In a Stock Exchange News Service announcement, the company says: “The individuals have informed the company that they dispute the findings of the FSCA and will be applying to the Financial Services Tribunal for reconsideration and suspension of the FSCA decisions.”
Wheatley tells ITWeb, via his ABC e-mail address, that “unfortunately we have taken the decision to not litigate the issue in public and will not be responding to the allegations publicly”.
ABC said the FSCA decisions had immediate implications for the company, resulting in it taking precautionary measures that led to the changes to its board. ABC clarified that the FSCA orders were not issued against any entity within the group.
“The interim leadership arrangements and restrictions… form part of the board’s immediate response to protect the group’s regulatory position and preserve governance and operational continuity.”
Masie stepped in as interim CEO as of the end of August, with the company having told shareholders about the sanctions on 1 September, although ABC did not have specifics of the enforcement orders.
Masie’s previous roles include more than seven years as an independent non-executive director of Advtech, Africa’s largest JSE-listed private education provider, and more than four years on the board of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
A technology investor and advisor, Masie also lectures on executive Master of Business Administration programmes at several business schools.
The price tag
According to the FSCA, the fines amount to R9 million: R5 million for Wheatley, R3 million for Keshwar-Wheatley and R1 million for Karan, totalling R9 million – R1 million short of the figure in its own statement.
The sanctions stem from the FSCA finding that the three manipulated Altvest shares during the period that the company was listed on the Cape Town Stock Exchange, contravening the Financial Markets Act, or alternatively “aiding and abetting others” to contravene the law.
Each of the three individuals was also debarred from providing, or being involved in providing, financial products or financial services, acting as key persons of financial institutions, or providing services to financial institutions for 20 years – effectively shutting them out of regulated financial services for two decades.
At the time the alleged share manipulation took place, WGW held a 34% shareholding in Altvest, with Wheatley, in his capacity as a director of WGW Capital, executing trades through the company’s share trading account. Tatum Keshwar Investments held a 17% shareholding in Altvest, with Keshwar-Wheatley executing trades through the company’s share trading account, the FSCA says.
Out for a month
Wheatley and Karan have been placed on precautionary leave from their executive positions and suspended from all group management, advisory, operational and decision-making responsibilities.
Services provided by Keshwar-Wheatley through her consulting company were also suspended. The three can no longer represent ABC, its Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund (ACOF) subsidiary or the broader group, or exercise any authority on their behalf.
Tatum Keshwar Investments was paid a monthly fee for media and investor relations services. Keshwar-Wheatley’s responsibilities included media strategy, public relations, branding, media campaigns and investor communications. The February 2025 financial statements put the fees at R200 000 for the year, while no fees were indicated for her company in the 2026 financials.
Wheatley also resigned as a director of ABC, while all three resigned as directors of ACOF.
“The precautionary leave and suspension measures will apply for an initial period of one month, subject to review by the board. They are precautionary and non-disciplinary and have been implemented without prejudice to the rights and remedies available to the relevant parties,” ABC says.
The company, which invests in Bitcoins on behalf of individuals, says these measures “do not depend on the outcome of any legal proceedings contemplated by the individuals”.
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