The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Sunday warned the general public against the activities of Ponzi and other fraudulent schemes such as blockchain and cryptocurrency promoters.
The commission disclaimed the activities of such companies which are neither registered nor regulated by her, stressing that any person dealing with them in any manner whatsoever, does so at his/her own risk.
The SEC statement said the suspected promoters operate under identities such as: Loom Nigeria Money, Box Value Trading Company Ltd, Now-Now Alert, Flip Cash Investment, Result Investment Nigeria Limited, Helping Hand and Investment and No Failure Development and Empowerment Nigeria Limited.
It listed others as: “MBA Forex and Investment Ltd, Federate Investors Trading Company, Jamalife Helpers Global Ltd, Flexus Global Solutions and Investment Ltd, United Capital Investment Company Limited.”
Recall that the SEC recently raised the alarm over the proliferation of unlawful and unlicensed investment schemes with promises of huge but unjustifiable returns on investment.
The commission noted that by virtue of the provisions of Section 38(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, the general public is hereby advised to refrain from investing in any scheme of the entities listed above, and WARNS that any person who invests in an unlicensed/unlawful scheme does so at his own peril.
The statement recalled that Ms Mary Uduk, acting director-general of the commission, as saying recently as saying such outfits are not registered to undertake fund management functions of any sort, stressing that those who stubbornly patronize them end up burning their fingers.
The capital market, she continued, has been properly positioned to attract Nigerians and provide benefits to investors, adding that the SEC has sustained its investor education programme to assist people to understand whatever issues they have around the capital market.
“But besides that, there are new products coming up every day in the Nigerian capital market. We have a lot of ethical funds, one of the safest areas to invest in is in Mutual Funds, Collective Investments Schemes and we encourage Nigerians to be part of these and others,” she stressed further.
Uduk said the SEC is presently undertaking various initiatives to make the capital market more user-friendly such that people can participate in it with greater ease, comfort and convenience.
“There is the added and all-important purpose of ensuring that the gains of your participation, be these dividends, proceeds from share sales/transfers, etc. accrue to you seamlessly, without sweat and in the shortest time possible.
“The purpose is also to ensure that you do not fall victim to the antics of fraudsters who purport to be able to double any amount of money you make available to them as investment value”, Uduk added.
