Director General
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); Mounir Gwarzo (left), Director
General Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN); Dr. Mansur Liman, and
Executive Commissioner Legal and Enforcement, SEC, Sa’adatu Bello
Weeks
after the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned the general
public against falling prey to an online investment scheme tagged, “MMM Federal
Republic of Nigeria,” many people remain immovable in their quest for its
breadth-taking gains.
In
a survey by The Guardian, most of the respondents, who were mostly students of
tertiary institutions, described the scheme as a less-risky venture, which if
successful, leaves participants smiling.
The
MMM, according to information on its website, is a trending financial scheme
which promises to create a community of people providing financial help to one
another on the principle of gratuitousness, reciprocity and benevolence.
Registered members help each other by providing a certain sum of money (as
ordered by the operators of the scheme) and such paid amount is expected to
yield a 30 per cent increase at the end of the month.
At
any month end, members could withdraw their invested amount as well as the
added interest through a similar means of being paid by another participant. By
operation, the scheme, which platform is Nigeria.mmm.net, has no central system
or account.
However,
SEC, in a recent statement on its website, disclosed that the system was a
ponzi scheme, alleging that the facilitators were online fraudsters who promise
high rates of return with little risk to investors.
It
added: “The platform has embarked on aggressive online media campaign to lure
the investing public to participate in what it called ‘mutual aid and financial
network’ with a monthly investment return of 30 per cent.
“The
operation of this investment scheme has no tangible business model, hence it is
a ponzi scheme where returns are paid from other people’s invested sum. Its
operation is not registered by the commission.”
It
advised the public to shun the scheme.
But
The Guardian survey revealed that virtually all participants in the scheme have
benefited from it, thus making it very difficult for them to quit despite the
red alert of SEC.
One
of the participants, Ata Efe, who was apparently marketing the scheme, told The
Guardian that she reaped N73,000 (30 per cent interest and extra membership
bonus) having invested N50,000 in her trial month. She said many of her friends
had been participating in it, adding that one of them recently acquired a N1.2
million plot of land through the scheme.
Maryjane
Okojie, another resident in Asaba, acknowledged the warning of SEC but
dispelled any possibility of quitting the scheme, which has given her a
cumulative gain of N200,000.
She
said: “I suspect that this may turn out to be a scam someday, but with the
current economic situation, I cannot stop investing until the system crashes.”
The
gains of the scheme may not be the only reason for participants not heeding the
fraud alert of SEC, as some religious leaders are allegedly canvassing support
for it.
One
of the respondents in the survey, a fresh Mass Communication graduate of Delta
State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-uku, disclosed that a clergyman in one of the
orthodox churches in the town (names withheld), advises youths in the church to
make savings and invest them in the MMM scheme.
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