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By Nathan Adams 
1 hour ago
Cape Town – Cape Town businessman JP Paulsen threw a party this weekend as his lawyers prepared to appeal to the South Gauteng High Court against Joburg’s decision to liquidate his forex trading company JP Markets .
Paulsen posted videos to his Instagram account despite the court froze R2.58 billion in his company’s bank accounts this week.
The National Prosecutor’s Authority (NPA) is considering investigating Paulsen, the CEO of online forex brokerage JP Markets, who is expected to be liquidated.
The court this week approved the request by the Financial Service Conduct Authority (FSCA) to liquidate JP Markets, have its assets remain frozen and work with the NPA if necessary to hold Paulsen personally liable for any wrongdoing. Paulsen is optimistic that justice will be served. His attorney, Darren Hanekom, said: “Our client would like to tell all JP Markets clients that the fight is far from over.
“We are informed that our client has sufficient funds to pay for all withdrawals, however this process is now in the hands of the FSCA-designated liquidators. The company had undergone a drastic remedy where there were many alternatives. “
In June, the company’s business license was suspended, and while an investigation into its operations was underway, more than R2.58bn was frozen in JP Markets’ bank accounts.
Following the liquidation judgment, the FSCA said that “the investigation against JP Markets and its CEO, Justin Paulsen, has been completed …
“The FSCA is also preparing to turn the matter over to the NPA for further investigation and possible criminal prosecution.” For its part, the NPA said it has not yet launched an investigation.
Hanekom said: “Our client has not been aware of any of the so-called ‘evidence’ gathered during the settlement request. Our client is determined to set the record straight and will cooperate with any investigation. “
Hanekom also confirmed that Paulsen would appeal the liquidation of his company. “We are instructed to approach the Gauteng Local Division for authorization to appeal the 82-page ruling issued by Interim Judge Barry Gilbert.”
He said that all online forex traders are interested in having the judgment appealed. “This is a novel case and the first of its kind. “The FSCA has achieved a victory that has far-reaching consequences for the industry as a whole.
“As it stands, a precedent has been set; that any solvent forex brokerage can now be liquidated at the option of the FSCA and before the required investigation or inspection is completed. “
The former clients hoped to get their money back. Liesl Petersen from Cape Town was one of several whistleblowers who approached the FSCA to investigate “disrupted access to trade” at JP Markets.
Petersen claimed that last year, he was actively operating on the company’s site when there was a server outage and he lost R1.1 million.
A Joburg trader and former client of JP Markets, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he had a claim for R215,000 against the company as well as R140,000 on his profile when bank accounts were frozen.
Argus weekend
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