The two Gqeberha investment company owners who allegedly swindled unsuspecting investors out of more than R22.6 million appeared in the city's Specialised Commercial Crimes court on Tuesday.
Thirty-three-year-old Michael Rathbone and his 31-year-old partner Leon Lewitton allegedly duped clients using their company, Helping Hands Investments.
It later emerged that the company was not registered as a financial service provider, as per the law.
Rathbone and Lewitton face at least 163 charges which include fraud and theft.
Inside court on Tuesday, the pair stood out in court, dressed in smart matching suits and different shades of blue shirts and ties.
Seated in the dock and looking composed, they frequently made notes while state witness Heidenrich van Mollendorff was testifying.
Van Mollendorf is a former salesman, who was apparently under the duo's employ as an agent.
He testified that he had invested R300 000 with Helping Hands Investments and had also recruited several other "investors", including some members of his own family.
Rathbone and Lewitten were arrested by the Hawks in November 2019 and are out on bail of R50 000 each.
Another state witness, Bhekithemba Ncgoba, who was a Specialist Analyst with the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS), investigated the matter following a complaint from a whistleblower platform in August 2017.
Ngcoba said the anonymous complaint questioned whether Helping Hands investment was registered to be a Financial Service Provider.
