{"id":877257,"date":"2026-09-28T16:05:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=877257"},"modified":"2026-09-28T16:05:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:05:58","slug":"godongwana-confirms-da-finance-chief-mark-burkes-company-is-under-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/877257\/godongwana-confirms-da-finance-chief-mark-burkes-company-is-under-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Godongwana confirms DA finance chief Mark Burke\u2019s company is under investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has confirmed that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is investigating fintech company Kastelo over suspected exchange-control contraventions involving transactions worth approximately R4 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kastelo was co-founded by Mark Burke, the former Democratic Alliance (DA) federal finance chairperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, following the initial allegations, Burke stated that he resigned from the company in 2024 to pursue a political career and ceased serving as chairperson of the broader Kastelo group in February 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation was disclosed by Godongwana in response to a parliamentary question about reports that the SARB had identified a reasonable suspicion of exchange-control violations involving the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is correct that the SARB is investigating the company concerned and that an affidavit by an investigator in the Financial Surveillance Department of the SARB identified a reasonable suspicion of exchange-control contraventions,\u201d Godongwana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the investigation commenced around October 2025 and initially focused on transactions conducted between 4 August and 21 November 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe investigation remains ongoing, and its scope may be expanded should additional transactions outside this period be identified,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Godongwana, the SARB\u2019s actions were based on a reasonable suspicion that foreign exchange transactions amounting to approximately R4 billion had been conducted in contravention of the Exchange Control Regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister said it was alleged that the funds were ultimately used to acquire crypto assets abroad, which were later sold through local crypto asset service providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SARB suspects that transactions involving clients\u2019 Single Discretionary Allowances amounted to approximately R6.688 million, while transactions involving Foreign Investment Allowances were estimated at R3.496 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Godongwana stressed that these figures remain subject to the outcome of the investigation. \u201cThe final value of any suspected contraventions is subject to the findings of the ongoing investigation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parliamentary response also confirmed that the SARB had identified cases where it was alleged that certain clients were unaware that foreign bank accounts had been opened in their names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe question as to whether or not clients, in fact, had knowledge of the opening of such accounts forms part of the ongoing investigation,\u201d Godongwana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kastelo has defended its business model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The investigation followed concerns raised by Kastelo\u2019s own authorised dealer, Access Bank. A High Court judgment recorded that the bank reported suspicious transactions to the SARB after conducting its own forensic review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe applicants\u2019 own authorised dealer, Access Bank, triggered the investigation when it reported suspicious transactions and conducted its own forensic review,\u201d the court said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SARB subsequently issued a blocking order in November 2025, preventing withdrawals from Kastelo\u2019s Access Bank account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg dismissed Kastelo\u2019s application against the order on 28 July 2026 and ordered the company to pay the SARB\u2019s legal costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court found that the SARB only needed a \u201creasonable suspicion\u201d to issue the blocking order and did not have to prove that a contravention had already occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SARB alleged that Kastelo\u2019s business model involved using clients\u2019 foreign exchange allowances to facilitate the acquisition of foreign currency and crypto assets abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also raised concerns about loans allegedly provided to clients to enable them to use their allowances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kastelo has defended its business model, and said it allowed clients to benefit from price differences between South African and international cryptocurrency markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has denied keeping clients unaware of offshore accounts and said it no longer offered the arbitrage service after the blocking order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burke has also rejected any suggestion that he personally faces an investigation or has been found to have committed wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am not the chairperson of Kastelo Proprietary Limited, the company that is the subject of the litigation, and I am not involved in its daily operations,\u201d Burke said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe High Court judgment does not make any finding of wrongdoing against Kastelo, nor myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burke added that the court case concerned whether the SARB had grounds to issue the blocking order while its investigation continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo allegation of misconduct or malfeasance has been made against me personally, and I am personally not subject to any investigation by any entity or agency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Godongwana said the SARB\u2019s findings would determine whether the matter should be referred to law enforcement or other regulatory authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that administrative enforcement action had already been taken against Kastelo, with an order under the Exchange Control Regulations effectively preserving approximately R15 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has confirmed that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is investigating fintech company Kastelo over suspected exchange-control contraventions involving transactions worth approximately R4 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":877258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2104573603073110066","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2219563448864054","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18115855268069170","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[22560,22471,20457],"class_list":["post-877257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-democratic-alliance-da","tag-kastelo","tag-south-african-reserve-bank-sarb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":877260,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877257\/revisions\/877260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/877258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}