R2.3 billion Ponzi scheme mastermind keeps membership at top private school in South Africa
Craig Roy Warriner, the mastermind behind one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in South Africa’s history, has managed to retain his membership in the Old Stithians Association (OSA).
The OSA is the alumni body of St Stithians College, one of South Africa’s top all-boys and girls private schools.
Combined, the Boys’ College and the Girls’ College achieved a 100% Matric pass rate, a 98.86 % Bachelor’s Degree (BD) pass rate, and a total of 814 subject distinctions (80% or more).
This placed the respective schools among the top-performing private schools in the country following the Matric results 2025.
In 2026, parents who enrol their children at St Stithians fork out up to R346,295 for boarding and R199,680 for day students.
This level of tuition puts these parents among the top income groups in South Africa, and this was a major reason why ex-pupil Warriner managed to steal billions of rands.
Craig Roy Warriner matriculated from the school in 1982, and through the BHI trust, ran one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in South Africa’s history.
As a St Stithians private school old boy, he had access to many high-net-worth individuals with good connections.
He offered three fictitious investment strategies to these wealthy clients: the BHI Strategy, BHI Plus, and the BHI International Strategy.
Warriner’s marketing message to his elite clientele was that he was an expert day trader who focused on two stocks—BHP Billiton and Anglo American.
However, in September 2020, the FSCA started investigating BHI Trust and Warriner to determine potential contraventions of financial sector laws.
The FSCA’s financial analysis for September 2020 to November 2023 revealed significant wrongdoing.
Of the R2.9 billion he received from clients, only approximately R584 million, or about 20%, was invested in a legitimate investment vehicle.
The remaining 80% of the funds were held in a money market account, used to pay returns to other investors in a Ponzi scheme fashion.
The funds in the money market account were also used to fund Warriner’s extravagant lifestyle.
Sentenced to 537 years of imprisonment
It all collapsed, and in October 2023, Warriner handed himself over to the SAPS on allegations of operating a fraudulent investment scheme.
The NPA, FSCA, and SAPS collaborated on the case, and Warriner was found guilty of 207 counts of fraud and sentenced to 537 years’ imprisonment.
The court ordered that these sentences run concurrently, resulting in an effective 15-year imprisonment. Warriner also received a 10-year direct imprisonment for conducting unregistered financial services businesses.
The 10-year sentence does not run concurrently with the fraud sentences, resulting in a total effective imprisonment of 25 years.
On 20 March 2026, the OSA held a Special General Meeting (SGM) in terms of clause 11 of the OSA Constitution to consider the expulsion of Warriner as a member of the association.
The Constitution provides that expulsion may be determined only by a special resolution, requiring a 66% majority of members present and voting.
However, the vote failed to meet this requirement, meaning Warriner remains an OSA member of St Stithians College.
The OSA has defended the outcome of its special general meeting, and insisted that the failure to expel Craig Warriner “should not be interpreted as support for, sympathy toward, or minimisation” of his conduct.
In a letter to members, OSA chairman Israel Skosana said the association “condemns Mr Craig Warriner’s conduct unequivocally” and described the fallout as “serious and real”.
He said this included “financial harm caused to members of the St Stithians community”, losses suffered by the association itself, and “reputational damage to the wider Saints community”.
Skosana stressed that the debate among members was never about whether Warriner’s actions were wrong, but rather about what sanction was appropriate.
“The disagreement lay in the form of sanction and in the constitutional and institutional implications of expulsion, not in the seriousness of the underlying conduct,” he said.
A fresh challenge is already underway
He acknowledged that members were divided, with some believing expulsion was the only appropriate response, while others supported “permanent and severe sanctions, short of expulsion” in a “life membership body”.
Skosana said the matter is now closed in terms of Clause 11, but added that “nothing prevents members from bringing future resolutions” through the proper constitutional channels if they believe further action is needed.
In an interview with BizNews, Old Boy and business leader Ian Macleod said the push to expel Warriner from the OSA was driven by a very simple conclusion that Warriner should be expelled.
In his view, this is not just because Warriner committed a serious crime, but because he targeted the OSA itself and the community at large, including parents, alumni, and teachers, and defrauded them as well.
Macleod explained that he and others followed the OSA constitution, secured a special general meeting, and put the matter to a vote.
However, the result stunned him. According to Macleod, a small and very vocal lobby group turned out to prevent the expulsion.
He said two broad arguments have been used to defend Warriner’s continued membership, and he rejects both.
The first is a procedural concern that “the constitution is too broad” and needs clearer guidelines.
Macleod said he has “very little sympathy for this,” and argued that if improvements are needed, they should be made “prospectively.”
The second is the idea of “membership for life,” which he said appears rooted in misplaced mercy. He has “no sympathy” for that either.
Macleod said a fresh challenge is already underway. “We are putting together another proposal for a re-vote,” he said.
He argued the March meeting itself was flawed and demanded a new meeting. He also rejected a compromise that would keep Warriner as a member in name only, calling it “wholly unacceptable.”
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