MANDLA Lamba has refuted the warning to the public made by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) that he is offering financial advice and intermediary services to the public.
This comes after the FSCA said it received information that Lamba is conducting an unregistered business and offering shares to members of the public on social media and other broadcasting platforms, promising them unrealistic returns.
“The FSCA points out that Mandla Lamba is not authorised to render any financial advice and intermediary services,” the financial watchdog said last week.
FSCA said Lamba was linked to, amongst other companies, Mandla Lamba Billionaires Club, Agilitee, Verityhurst Academy, and Verityhurst Capital, and said that it should be noted that the companies are not authorised in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (Fais) Act.
While Lamba is disputing the claims, when marketing his business on social media, investors in his “billionaires’ club” were promised a “guaranteed” income of up to R1 million per month in exchange for an investment of R150 000.
The investment scheme was also endorsed by TV personality Somizi Mhlongo.
Lamba sold shares in his electric vehicle venture, Agilitee – supposedly as part of a special discount. He offered shares worth R50 000 at R5 000.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Lamba said he doesn’t provide any financial advice nor do any of the companies that he is affiliated to.
“I have noted, with great concern, the statement made by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) that impugns my name. The statement alludes that I, in my personal, along with four of the companies that are affiliated to myself, are providing financial advisory services which statement is incontrovertibly untrue. I do not provide any financial advice nor do any of the companies that I am affiliated to,” Lamba said.
He said he wanted to state the facts about his businesses. Lamba said in his Verityhurst Academy, the company trains people on how to trade shares on the JSE. “We do not trade shares on behalf of anyone. All candidates enrolled in our programme, trade shares at their own accord through their brokers and banks, none of which I am affiliated to, directly or indirectly,” Lamba said.
While the Mandla Lamba Billionaires Club had offered shares to its members and investors were encouraged to buy shares, he said it was a non-profit organisation, and it doesn’t sell any products to its members or the public.
He said he had recently stepped down as the chief executive officer of Agilitee South Africa. “The new CEO is a perfectly capable young black woman whom I believe will lead the organisation well.”
Lamba said he was considering his options for recourse and relief and will communicate that in due course.
This is not the first time Lamba made headlines due to his business dealings.
Several years ago, he had a company named Godforth Life Assurance, which, among other things, sold funeral policies and insurance to young people. The company was never registered.
In 2011, Lamba appeared in Orlando Magistrate’s Court on charges of fraud for allegedly swindling taxi owners out of hundreds of thousands of rands. The charges related to an alleged scam where Lamba approached taxi owners and promised to help them acquire new taxis. The taxi owners then paid a deposit of R40 000, and when nothing materialised, they laid charges. Lamba also faced a charge of theft involving about R480 000.
The FSCA warns members of the public to always check that an entity or individual is registered with the FSCA to provide financial services and what category of advice the entity is registered to provide.
“There are instances where persons are registered to provide basic advisory services for a low-risk product and then offer services of a far more complex and risky nature,” it said.
PERSONAL FINANCE