The Conduct Authority (FSCA) has disclosed details regarding the ban on the activities of Warren Whitly, founder of Africa Bitcoin Corporation, and two other individuals. The regulator discovered coordinated trading that artificially inflated the company's stock price four years ago when it was named Altvest Capital.
In a statement published on Thursday, FSCA reported that its investigation found that between September 5 and 8, 2022, Whitly, who was then CEO of Altvest Capital, acted in concert with his wife Tatum Keshwar-Whitly and Chief Investment Officer Akshaya Karan. Their coordinated actions led to the creation of an artificially inflated stock price and also created a false or misleading impression of demand, supply, or trading activity for Altvest shares.
According to FSCA, these parties violated section 80(1)(a) of the Financial Markets Act of 2012. During the period under review, Altvest was listed on the Cape Town Stock Exchange.
Details of Fines and Bans
FSCA imposed an administrative fine of 5 million rand on Whitly and WGW Capital, who are jointly liable. At the time of the incident, WGW Capital held 34% of Altvest shares, and Whitly, as its director, conducted trades through the company's trading account.
An additional 3 million rand was assigned to Keshwar-Whitly and Tatum Keshwar Investments, also jointly liable. This company held 17% of Altvest shares, and Keshwar-Whitly, as its sole director, conducted operations through the company's trading account. Akshaya Karan was fined 2 million rand for his involvement.
Each of the three individuals was also banned from conducting business for 20 years. FSCA explained that these bans were imposed based on violations of the Financial Markets Act, assisting others in violating the financial sector law, or both circumstances.
What Sens Did Not Disclose
TechCentral reported on Wednesday that the three individuals were banned, that Whitly had stepped down from the board, and that Stafford Massey took over as interim CEO. The company announcement to shareholders, published on Sens late Tuesday, described the consequences of these decisions but did not indicate their reason. It contained no grounds, fines, or terms, stating that the decisions were confidentially conveyed to the individuals themselves and were not published by the regulator. They have now been published.
Africa Bitcoin told shareholders that FSCA had made no findings against any structure within the group and had imposed no administrative fines or bans on any subsidiary of the group. The statement from Thursday does not contradict this assertion. WGW Capital and Tatum Keshwar Investments, two companies penalized along with the individuals, were shareholders of Altvest and structures through which transactions were carried out. Neither is a subsidiary of the listed group.
This behavior predates the strategy upon which the company is currently built, although not the company itself: Africa Bitcoin Corporation is the same legal entity as Altvest Capital, just renamed. Altvest acquired its first Bitcoin in February 2025, calling it a systemic test, proposed a name change in September of the same year, and transitioned from AltX to the main JSE board in May 2026. The trading investigated by FSCA occurred approximately two and a half years before the first of these steps, when Altvest was a small SME financing group registered in Cape Town.
All three contest the FSCA's findings, and the company stated on Tuesday that it intends to apply to the Financial Services Tribunal for a review and suspension of these decisions.
Whitly left his position as a director of Africa Bitcoin Corporation on August 31. He, Karan, and Keshwar-Whitly, who manages the company's media and investor relations, also resigned from the board of Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund, which is wholly owned by the SME lender group, on August 31. Whitly and Karan were suspended from their executive duties during a preliminary leave from August 31 for an initial period of one month, subject to board review, while Keshwar-Whitly's services, provided through her consulting business, were suspended.
Massey, Google's first country manager in South Africa, joined Altvest as a lead independent director, became Executive Chairman in September 2025 when the Bitcoin strategy was announced, and later moved to the role of Director of Bitcoin Strategy. Speaking to TechCentral on Wednesday, one day before the FSCA results were published, he stated that he could not comment on anything other than the company's announcement, and that Whitly would not comment.