UNDERCOVER Billionaires Namibia, which was registered to facilitate the dreams of Namibians who wished to dive into the booming business of bitcoin, has died before it could even take off.
Barely two weeks after the Bitcoin seminar where South African president of Undercover Billionaires International Louis JR Tshakoane spoke about the business, the partnership with his Namibian facilitator of the business, Michael Amushelelo, has gone sour.
A few days after the seminar, which took place at Gateway Centre, and the subsequent registration of the company and its bank account in Namibia by Amushelelo, the partnership has been dissolved.
After the seminar, Tshakoane sent participants a Youtube video in which he expressed concern over the way his Namibian facilitator Amushelelo of Amushe Pty Ltd was carrying out business.
Amushelelo was to be the main person to service Namibian clients for Tshakoane.
While the seminar went as planned, things quickly changed, with Tshakoane claiming that although instructions went out for Amushelelo to register the company in Namibia and get things off the ground, “he did so very quickly without consulting me thoroughly, as in he opened the accounts in his name and registered the company in his name without consulting me on whether this was the best thing to do.”
He later told The Namibian that “Michael registered the company and opened bank accounts too quickly in respect to the fact that he didn't consult me regarding a share certificate. He registered the company 100% in his name. He also opened the bank account as the sole signatory. I was very surprised by that; which means legally he had opened Undercover Billionaires Namibia as his company. This is strange because Undercover Billionaires is my brand internationally.” Amushelelo, however, denied the claims, saying the two had agreed on how the business was to be registered in Namibia.
The two have since parted ways, with Amushelelo allegedly making arrangements for those who had already invested to receive refunds. After the second seminar, at least 13 people made investments ranging from the minimum allowable amount of N$2 000 to N$13 000.
While Tshakoane blames Amushelelo for things going awry, the Namibian entrepreneur tells a different tale. He accuses the South African of allowing people to invest without entering into a valid legal contract with them. The first seminar took place on 27 May, and on 3 June, Amushelelo and Tshakoane teamed up for the second one. “The first seminar was successful, but people started complaining about paying into a South African account”, says Amushelelo. He adds that “initially, people started paying into the account before receiving the contracts.” He was, however, unable to say when exactly he got hold of the contract while Tshakoane insists that each investor signed a contract.