A pair of South African brothers who ran a cryptocurrency investment platform called Africypt have gone into hiding along with investors funds worth $3.6 billion in Bitcoin.

Two brothers named Ameer Cajee who acted as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Raees Cajee who acted as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) started a cryptocurrency company called “Africrypt” in Johannesburg, a supposed currency exchange service.

Africrypt provided all-around solutions, including investment opportunities on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology; brokerage services proffering an electronic, off-exchange digital liquidity solution; payment services providing secured digital payments across the domestic, offshore and international market; and full-suite consulting and advisory services for merchant banks and services for the digital world.

The first signs of trouble came in April, when Africrypt COO Ameer Cajee, informed clients that the company was the victim of a hack. He asked investors not to report the incident to lawyers and authorities, as it would slow down the recovery process of the missing funds.

Some sceptical investors did not listen to the request not to alert authorities by the COO and contacted a law firm, Hanekom Attorneys while another group of investors started liquidation proceedings against Africrypt. The law firm said they could not locate the brothers and reported the matter to the Hawks, an elite unit of the national police force.

Cryptocurrency exchanges across the globe have also been alerted should any attempt be made to convert the digital coins to cash.