• Seven bank accounts linked to Banxso, an online trading platform that sponsors Bafana Bafana, have been frozen.
• Clients have accused the platform of using deepfake adverts of Elon Musk to dupe them into investing.
• Banxso has also had its trading licence provisionally withdrawn as investigations continue.
• For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.

The National Director of Public Prosecutions has won a preservation order freezing funds in seven bank accounts linked to Banxso, the online trading platform which sponsors Bafana Bafana and UFC champ Dricus du Plessis.

Banxso gained prominence earlier this year due to its high-profile sponsorships, and clients' claims that they were channelled into signing up after seeing deepfake adverts of business leaders like Elon Musk and Johann Rupert touting a "revolutionary" investment platform.

Many clients told News24 Business they lost money after deciding to invest. Banxso has denied links to the adverts which spread on social media.

The order freezing the funds was granted on Tuesday, according to South Africa’s financial regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).

It came after the Financial Intelligence Centre placed a hold on seven Banxso accounts earlier in the month. The brokerage then took the FIC to court, but lost its case, and the hold was maintained.

The FSCA said on Wednesday it had also provisionally withdrawn Banxso's licence as a financial services provider.

"The FSCA has taken this step because it is concerned that there may be a risk of harm to clients and/or the general public if Banxso continues its operations as a financial services provider," it said.

"The provisional withdrawal is based on preliminary investigation findings regarding the activities of Banxso and its possible association with the Immediate Matrix deepfake advertisements."

Many of the fake ads leading to the Banxso site bear the logo of a shadowy company called "Immediate Matrix".

The watchdog said it was also concerned by the "apparent aggressive and pressurised sales techniques used by Banxso agents when selling financial products to clients" as well as the promises of unrealistic returns and losses by investors.

It said that Banxso had also failed to conduct required risk and needs analyses prior to placing clients in specific financial products.

"Banxso has no connection with, nor involvement in, any deepfake ads that may exist on the internet," its chief operating officer, Manuel de Andrade, said earlier this year.

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