The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has launched an investigation, in collaboration with the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) and other international partners, into the alleged fraud perpetrated by a digital investment platform, CryptoBank Exchange (CBEX).
CBEX, which crashed on Monday, reportedly led to the loss of ₦1.3 trillion belonging to Nigerian investors, even as several videos online showed some Nigerians raising the alarm over the loss of their funds to the scheme.
Making an appearance on Wednesday’s edition of Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said the agency had received calls from different quarters over the incident and was already tracking the digital trading platform.
“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. “
READ ALSO: N1.3trn CBEX Probe: We Warned Nigerians Against Ponzi Schemes – EFCC
‘ Not Beaten ‘
Oyewale stated that the anti-graft agency was not caught off guard by the scheme.
” 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”.
Investment and Security Act ,
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.
READ ALSO: Court Jails Businessman For Rejecting Naira As Legal Tender
He claimed that any form of exchange or business activity that does not comply with the provisions of the Act constitute criminal activity if it is not licensed and authorized to do so.
Because we are aware that if you engage in some kind of engagement and you are not licensed or in compliance with existing laws, we are able to work as a commission because we know that with ISA 2025. We’ll take appropriate action and prosecute those responsible.
As may be expected, I believe Nigerians also need to be very vigilant because there are many facets to this Ponzi scheme issue, and that we are strengthening it through the ISA.
Before making any investment or business engagement, it is necessary to critically examine some fundamental indices. For instance, he argued that the returns on investment that all of these Ponzi schemes are parading are “unrealistic” and incompatible with our laws and the country’s current system.
‘ 100% ROI Not Possible ‘
Oyewale continued, “We know that every business concern requires you to report your profit either quarterly, annually, or bi-annually, but if someone says, “Bring your money, I’m going to give you a return in 30 days,” that is not realistic, because it’s just not pragmatic.
Or, “We’re going to give you a 100% return on investment,” as some people claim, “Or that’s not possible, even we know that Nigeria’s current interest rate is 27.5. “
Therefore, he cautioned Nigerians against investing in a company without considering the laws that apply to it.
The key is that Nigerians shouldn’t be falling victim to this kind of arrangement when we have a lot of enlightenment programs going on, but that is what matters.
Source: Channels TV
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