BHI Ponzi: Victim who lost R6m helps explains how he was duped - as were thousands more

Critical facts are emerging on the R3bn Ponzi scheme operated since 1999 by St Stithians old boy Craig Warriner. When the fraudster needed fresh funds to keep the scam rolling, he expanded out of the original well-heeled Sandton private school base into a broader middle-class group of retirees who depended on a monthly income stream and thousands of mainly Coloured and Indian ‘investors’. The increasingly desperate scam was funded through enablers that included broking firm Global & Local, which earned up-front commissions of a reputed 5% on the money injected into the Ponzi. In this interview, an investor who asked not to be named, explains how he got sucked into the fraud - and how Global & Local geared up its involvement with Warriner’s BHI Trust by purchasing books of clients from smaller brokers. The victim, who lost R6m, spoke to BizNews editor Alec Hogg.