Cape Town Police Seize Misregistered Mercedes-AMG GLE in Operation Targeting Alleged Crypto Scammers

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis recently joined a nighttime city police operation targeting people who claimed to be cryptocurrency and forex traders and were driving luxury vehicles with fake or missing license plates. According to Odaily, police seized a silver Mercedes-AMG GLE that was misregistered as a white BMW and was reported to be worth more than $153,000, and arrested a driver of an unregistered BMW 3 Series. Local officials said fraudulent crypto groups use TikTok to display assets and use luxury cars as status symbols to lure victims into fake investments. A report released in March said corporate-style scam centers operated by international criminal groups have formed clusters in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The report said the groups use deepfakes, cloned apps, and fake investment platforms to carry out fraud, and that illicit funds are typically laundered through cryptocurrency wallets, money mules, and physical assets such as unlicensed high-end vehicles.