Man fined R4.1 million and debarred for 25 years for impersonating South Africa’s biggest insurer for three years

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has fined a man, Johannes Lodewicus Du Plessis, R4.1 million and debarred him for 25 years.

This comes after an investigation found that Du Plessis collected and traded funds from clients in equities available on the Sanlam Private Wealth (SPW) iTrade trading platform. 

He authored letters and investment statements to his clients, purporting to be from SPW, using the company’s letterhead and FSP number.

In a press release on 26 October 2026, the FSCA confirmed that these actions resulted in Du Plessis being issued an administrative penalty of R4.1 million. He has also been debarred for 25 years.

“Du Plessis misrepresented to his clients that he was appointed to act as SPW’s representative, while he in fact was not,” the regulator said. 

“Thus, Du Plessis rendered discretionary intermediary services in respect of a financial product (listed shares) without the requisite authorisation.” 

“Finally, during the investigation, Du Plessis furnished the investigators with false and misleading information.”

The FSCA said Du Plessis impersonated an SPW representative from June 2022 to November 2025.

On top of this, Du Plessis allegedly offered to render financial services and promised unrealistic returns of up to 36% per annum to members of the public. This was done via his company, JLD Investments.

The FSCA’s investigation into Du Plessis and JLD Investments started in November 2024 after it received allegations that they were contravening financial sector laws.

While the FSCA had made no findings against Du Plessis at that point, it warned the public against conducting financial services business with him.

In March 2026, the FSCA appointed a curator, Aubrey Magerman of Magerman Attorneys, for part of Du Plessis’ business.

Magerman was appointed to protect the interests of clients who invested with Du Plessis and JLD Investments.

Following Du Plessis’ penalty and debarment, this curatorship remains ongoing and is nearing completion, the FSCA said.

“As previously stated, all affected clients are encouraged to approach the curator for their claims to be assessed,” it added.

“The FSCA will now formally bring this matter to the attention of the South African Police Service and will provide active assistance to the SAPS, if requested.”

Rise in scams in South Africa

South Africa has seen an increase in scams over the past few years, and fraudsters are increasingly using legitimate institutions as a front.

For example, Sanlam’s website warns investors about impersonations of the company on Telegram.

“A malicious third party is purporting to be or act on behalf of Sanlam through the unauthorised use of Telegram as a communication channel,” it said.

“Please be informed that Sanlam does not conduct business via Telegram, does not have a Telegram account, and that this is indeed a scam.”

Biometric intelligence platform BioCatch surveyed 1,200 fraud and financial crime experts across 17 countries and found that this trend was growing.

In the survey, 75% of South African respondents reported that fraud attempts at their institutions were on the rise, compared with an average of 61% across the 17 countries surveyed.

In 2024, the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service statistics also revealed a 32% increase in fraud incidents and a 54% rise in impersonation fraud victims compared to 2023.

These cases of impersonation fraud also extend beyond institutions to individuals. 

For example, the FSCA has warned that individuals were using the likeness of billionaire Patrice Motsepe to solicit investments from unsuspecting South Africans. 

The rise of technologies like artificial intelligence has worsened the problem, as scammers can now use them to impersonate trusted individuals.

This is what happened in the Motsepe fraud case, with the FSCA explaining that the scammers created deepfakes of the businessman to trick individuals into investing money.