The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has launched an investigation to nab those behind the alleged fraud perpetrated by a digital investment platform, CryptoBank Exchange (CBEX).
Thousands of Nigerians who invested in the digital asset trading platform lost an estimated N1.3 trillion.
The digital trading platform which boasted of giving investors 100 per cent Return On Investment in 30 days crashed on Monday, after the money in their investors’ wallets vanished.
There were signs that the platform had crashed since Friday, when it postponed investors’ withdrawals.
However, their hopes were dashed when their savings were wiped out from the investors’ account.
This is the latest scheme in a series that Nigerians would fall victims to in the last 10 years, with people desirous of doubling their savings losing billions of naira despite repeated warnings from the regulatory authorities against investing in Ponzi schemes.
Speaking on Channels Television earlier on Wednesday, Dele Oyewale, EFCC spokesperson in collaboration with the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) and other international partners to crack down on those behind the scheme.
“Concerning this CBEX thing, we’re on it; it’s not that we didn’t know, and you know we’ve been alerting Nigerians about ways and means to separate themselves from this type of shenanigans. So, before the calls came, we were working; while the calls were coming, we were working, and even after the calls, we’re still working.
“I can assure you that all of the profiling we need to do, contacts that we need to make, and some collaborative engagement that we need to make, we’re already doing that. We’re in contact with Interpol. We’re in contact with our development partners.”
“Expectedly, we’re receiving quite a number of calls from Nigerians from all walks of life, from the media, from some of the victims, and from those who are not yet victims and who would want to be properly educated about what can be done to avert this kind of thing.
“Of course, we have been working; we’re not beaten by what happened. Our dragnet is wide; our intelligence is very effective. We’re tracking that digital trading platform. We profiled quite a number of things concerning the platform.”
He explained further that the Investment and Security Act (ISA) 2025 was a very important, well-conceived and responsive Act of the government aimed at checking illegal investment schemes.
He said according to the Act, it is criminal to engage in any digital trading activity without being licensed and complying with all the extant laws, as any form of exchange or business engagement must conform to the provisions of the Act.
“And that has empowered us as a commission because we know that with the ISA 2025, it’s so easy for us if you’re involved in some kind of engagement and you’re not licensed and you’re not compliant with extant laws; I mean, it’s a straight thing. We will act accordingly, and we’ll bring such people to justice.
“Be it as it may, I think Nigerians also need to know that yes, we’re gaining strength with the ISA, but there is also a need for public vigilance because there are a lot of things that go with this Ponzi scheme thing, so Nigerians also need to be very vigilant.
“There is a need to critically look at some basic indices before going into any investment or any business engagement. For example, the returns on investment that all of these Ponzi schemes are parading are not only unrealistic, but they are also at variance with our laws, with the existing system in Nigeria,” he said.
