Former Miss South Africa Tatum Keshwar-Wheatley will no longer provide consulting services to Africa Bitcoin Corporation (ABC), while chief investment officer Akshay Karan has stepped down with immediate effect from 1 October.

The ABC board of directors said in a JSE Sens announcement that it had accepted Karan’s resignation and Keshwar-Wheatley’s notice terminating her services. Keshwar-Wheatley was head of media and investor relations, with her services provided through a consulting company.

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FSCA debars Africa Bitcoin Corporation CEO and two executives
Africa Bitcoin CEO Warren Wheatley resigns after FSCA action

Her husband, Warren Wheatley, has already resigned as CEO of the corporation.

Well-known technology entrepreneur and executive director Stafford Masie has stepped in as interim CEO.

Keshwar-Wheatley and Karan had initially stepped down for a precautionary period of nine months after the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) issued a confidential decision to the ABC board on 30 August 2026.

The FSCA has imposed 20-year debarment orders on Wheatley, Keshwar-Wheatley and Karan.

FSCA findings

The FSCA’s investigation found that between 5 and 8 September 2022, the three individuals engaged in coordinated trading that artificially inflated the share price and created a deceptive appearance of trading activity in Altvest Capital (the entity’s former name) when it was listed on the Cape Town Stock Exchange.

Keshwar-Wheatley, through her firm Tatum Keshwar Investments, faces a R3 million fine.

The FSCA imposed an administrative penalty of R1 million on Karan for what it described as “his involvement in the unlawful transactions”.

It imposed a R5 million administrative penalty jointly and severally on Wheatley and his holding company, WGW Capital.

On Thursday, ABC’s board said Karan and Keshwar-Wheatley’s decisions to appeal the FSCA findings, and the related proceedings before the Financial Services Tribunal, “are personal to them and continue independently of the company”.

Trades ‘amounted to R301’

In an open letter, Wheatley provided his version of events that led to the penalty and debarment.

Read: I was fined R5m and debarred over R301 in test trades, says Wheatley

He says the matter relates to R301 in test trades conducted four years ago in Altvest shares.

“Fifty shares. Three hundred and one rand. A fine of millions. Debarment,” says the open letter from a clearly aggrieved Wheatley.

Wheatley says he has asked the Financial Services Tribunal to reconsider the FSCA’s ruling, without admitting any wrongdoing.

In his letter, he said: “On 28 August 2026, the FSCA debarred me and imposed a R5 million administrative penalty for conduct relating to orders and trades in Altvest shares in September 2022. I will apply to the Financial Services Tribunal to reconsider the decision of the FSCA and for the sanction to be suspended while the reconsideration is dealt with.”

“The FSCA’s findings relate to events from four years ago.

“At the time, I was testing a stockbroker trading platform that had historically not functioned correctly,” he said.

“During the testing, three trades for a combined 50 shares worth a total of R301 were executed. That was the total sale price received, and I have not since sold shares in the company.”

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ABC is Africa’s first bitcoin treasury company and also provides debt financing to small and medium-sized enterprises. The company is listed on the JSE, with secondary listings on the Namibia Stock Exchange and A2X.

As various regulations prevent pension funds and collective investment schemes from investing directly in bitcoin, companies such as ABC provide regulated funds with exposure to the cryptocurrency through ordinary shares.