SEC has warned stakeholders and the investing public against the activities of some unlawful/unlicensed market operators and promoters of other fraudulent schemed.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned stakeholders and the investing public against the activities of some unlawful/unlicensed market operators and promoters of other fraudulent schemed.
This was disclosed in a circular, which was released by the apex capital market operator to the investing public and capital market operators.
In the circular, the investing public was advised against dealing the 12 fraudulent Ponzi scheme operators with their bogus investment and return claims.
“The commission, in recent time, has observed the proliferation of the operation of unlawful/unlicensed investment schemes, with promises of huge, but unjustifiable returns on investment.’’
SEC said these activities are perpetrated by the suspected promoters of these Ponzi and other fraudulent schemes. These Ponzi scheme operators include:
- Loom Nigeria Money
- Box Value Trading Company Ltd
- Now-Now Alert
- Flip Cash Investment
- Result Investment Nigeria Limited
- Helping Hand and Investment
- No Failure Development and Empowerment Nigeria Ltd.
- MBA Forex and Investment Ltd
- Federate Investors and Trading Company
- Jamalife Helpers Global Ltd
- Flexus Global Solutions and Investment Ltd
- United Capital Investment Company Limited
SEC pointed out that, “Members of the public are to note that by virtue of the provisions of section 39(1) of the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2007, only persons registered with the commission can engage in capital market activities, thus making the actions of these entities listed above unlawful.”
Consequently, SEC advised the general public to refrain from investing in any scheme from those firms that have been listed and warned that anybody that invests in any unlicensed/unlawful scheme, does so at their own peril.
Recall that in 2019, SEC clamped down on some of those Ponzi scheme operators which include MGB Global, X-World, Money Rite, No Failure Development, Dantata Success & Profitable Company and so on.
The commission blocked the bank accounts and real estate properties linked to operators of the Ponzi schemes and also sealed their premises.
Acting Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Mary Uduk, stated that the Commission had recorded significant successes in its efforts to protect the investing public from fraudulent persons.
She said that there was an upsurge of Ponzi schemes in Nigeria in 2019, so the Commission had to step up its enforcement actions to safeguard the investing public and stop these illegal operators.
Nigerian, some few years ago, were victims of the then-popular Ponzi scheme, MMM, which later crashed.
A Ponzi Scheme is a fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors. It generates returns for early investors by acquiring new investors and is similar to a pyramid scheme in that both are based on using new investors’ funds to pay the earlier backers.
Source: Nairametrics
