Warren Gregory Wheatley (pictured) has resigned as chief executive and an employee of Africa Bitcoin Corporation Limited (ABC), saying the company cannot wait for the outcome of his challenge to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s decision to debar him for 20 years and impose a R5-million administrative penalty.
The regulatory action concerns trading in September 2022 in shares of Altvest Capital Limited, as ABC was known at the time.
The FSCA found that Wheatley knowingly participated between 5 and 8 September 2022 in a practice that created, or was likely to create, artificial trading activity and an artificial price in Altvest shares.
Wheatley, ABC’s co-founder, disputes the finding. In an open letter released on 22 September 2026, he said he had been testing a stockbroker trading platform that had historically not functioned correctly. According to Wheatley, three trades involving a combined 50 Altvest shares were executed during the testing, with a total sale price of R301. He said he had not subsequently sold shares in the company.
ABC announced on Tuesday that Wheatley’s resignation took effect on 21 September 2026 and had been accepted by the board. Stafford Masie will continue as interim chief executive while the board proceeds with the appointment of a permanent CEO.
Wheatley had already resigned from ABC’s board with effect from 31 August 2026, after the FSCA’s decisions were communicated to the company. His latest resignation ends his remaining executive and employment roles at ABC.
‘The company cannot wait’
Wheatley said his role in leading ABC had stood in abeyance since the FSCA’s decision was communicated at the end of August.
He said the Tribunal process would take time, and it was not in the company’s interests for his leadership role to remain in abeyance while the matter was being resolved.
“The company cannot wait for that process to be finalised,” Wheatley said.
He said the company, its staff, shareholders, fund investors, small and medium-sized enterprise clients, and their employees would be better served by active leadership than by his remaining in office.
Wheatley said his resignation was voluntary, did not amount to an admission of wrongdoing, and did not affect his rights before the Financial Services Tribunal. He said the board could now appoint a permanent chief executive, and he would support the process where possible.
ABC said Wheatley’s reconsideration and related Tribunal proceedings were personal to him and would continue independently of the company. Wheatley said he would apply for reconsideration of the FSCA’s decision and for the sanction to be suspended pending that process.
What the FSCA found
The FSCA’s press release of 3 September 2026 says Wheatley acted in concert with his wife, Tatum Lucy Keshwar-Wheatley, and Altvest’s chief investment officer, Akshay Suresh Karan, between 5 and 8 September 2022.
According to the FSCA, their co-ordinated conduct created an artificially inflated share price and/or a false or deceptive appearance of the demand for, supply of, or trading activity in Altvest shares. Altvest was listed on the Cape Town Stock Exchange at the time.
The three administrative penalty orders record different findings against the individuals.
The FSCA found that Wheatley contravened section 80(1)(a) of the Financial Markets Act by knowingly participating in a practice that created, or was likely to create, artificial trading activity and an artificial price in Altvest shares between 5 and 8 September 2022.
The regulator found that Karan knowingly participated in a practice that created, or was likely to create, artificial demand or trading activity and an artificial price between 6 and 8 September 2022.
It found that Keshwar-Wheatley knowingly participated in a practice that created, or was likely to create, an artificial price in Altvest shares on 8 September 2022.
The orders do not identify the complete sequence, number, volume, or value of the underlying orders and trades. Nor do they explain how the conduct attributed to each individual formed part of the co-ordinated conduct described in the FSCA’s press release.
Twenty-year debarments and R9m in penalties
The FSCA debarred Wheatley, Keshwar-Wheatley, and Karan for 20 years each.
The regulator also imposed administrative penalties of R5m on Wheatley, R3m on Keshwar-Wheatley, and R1m on Karan, all inclusive of costs. Its press release says the penalties against Wheatley and Keshwar-Wheatley were imposed jointly and severally with WGW Capital (Pty) Ltd and Tatum Keshwar Investments (Pty) Ltd, respectively.
The regulator said WGW Capital held a 34% shareholding in Altvest at the time and that Wheatley, as a director of WGW Capital, executed trades through the company’s share-trading account.
Tatum Keshwar Investments held a 17% shareholding in Altvest. The FSCA said Keshwar-Wheatley, its sole director, executed trades through the company’s share-trading account.
Karan’s R1m penalty was imposed for what the FSCA described as his involvement in the transactions.
ABC previously said none of the FSCA’s findings, administrative penalties, or debarment orders applied to the company or its subsidiaries. WGW Capital and Tatum Keshwar Investments were shareholders in Altvest at the time of the transactions, not ABC subsidiaries.
From precautionary leave to resignation
ABC’s board was informed of the FSCA’s decisions on 30 August. Wheatley and Karan were placed on precautionary leave from their roles as chief executive and chief investment officer, respectively, with effect from the following day.
They were also placed on leave from their other group executive, management, advisory, operational, and decision-making responsibilities. The company suspended the services of Keshwar-Wheatley, who provided media and investor relations services through her consulting business.
ABC described these steps as precautionary and non-disciplinary. It said they did not constitute a finding by the board on the merits of the FSCA’s decisions or the individuals’ intended challenges.
ABC told News24 on Tuesday that there were no further changes to Karan’s and Keshwar-Wheatley’s respective positions that it was able to announce.
Wheatley resigned from ABC’s board with effect from 31 August. Wheatley, Karan, and Keshwar-Wheatley also resigned as directors of Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund Limited, a wholly owned ABC subsidiary.
Masie, an existing ABC executive director and its director of Bitcoin strategy, became interim CEO on 31 August. He will remain in the role while the board proceeds with the appointment of a permanent CEO.
ABC, formerly Altvest Capital, listed on the Cape Town Stock Exchange in May 2022 and obtained a secondary listing on A2X Markets in September that year.
It transferred its primary listing to the JSE’s AltX in October 2024, changed its name in September 2025, and migrated to the JSE Main Board, General Segment, in May 2026.
