A court in Brazil has found Johann Steynberg, the mastermind behind the bitcoin ponzi scheme Mirror Trading International (MTI), guilty of using a forged identity document. However, the court has commuted Steynberg’s three-and-a-half-year sentence to a fine of just over $31,000. Both Steynberg’s lawyers and the prosecution team have appealed the court’s decision.
Johann Steynberg, the CEO of Mirror Trading International (MTI), has been found guilty by a Brazilian court for using forged identity documents in relation to his involvement in the bitcoin ponzi scheme. Despite being sentenced to three and a half years in prison, Steynberg is unlikely to serve jail time as the court has ordered him to pay a fine instead.
Steynberg, who fled South Africa in 2020, was arrested in Brazil in December 2021 with a forged Brazilian identity document. South African authorities initiated extradition proceedings against him. Steynberg’s attempt to block the extradition was rejected by a Brazilian judge in 2022, and he has since been in “precautionary detention.”
The Brazilian court commuted Steynberg’s jail sentence to a fine based on the country’s penal code, which allows jail terms of four years or less for non-violent crimes to be converted to fines. However, Steynberg’s lawyers and the prosecution team have both appealed the decision, arguing that the punishment is too harsh or not commensurate with the offense.
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