The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and INTERPOL have commenced a probe of the recently crashed online digital trading platform, CBEX, as it reportedly swept its investors’ funds amounting to N1.3 trillion.
The spokesperson of EFCC, Dele Oyewale, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
This comes as CBEX was reported to have crashed on Monday, with Nigerians taking to their social media to express pain.
The CBEX, operated by a group of foreign nationals in collaboration with their Nigerian partners with offices in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, and other parts of the country, collapsed leaving their investors stranded as they were unable to access their funds.
Reacting to the development, Oyewale confirmed that the commission had already commenced an investigation into the scheme before its eventual collapse.
He explained that efforts were underway to arrest both the local and international operators behind the fraudulent scheme.
“We are actively working to handle the CBEX situation. We will collaborate with other regulatory agencies to ensure that Nigerians are protected from this kind of scheme. We will do our job—where recovery is possible, we will recover; where prosecution is possible, we will prosecute.
“Overall, we will do our best. Additionally, there are similar frauds across the country that people are unaware of, and we are working to uncover them. We are on the local collaborators while we are partnering with INTERPOL to trace the foreign operators,” he stated.
Oyewale further warned Nigerians to exercise caution before committing funds to any financial entity not duly registered with regulatory bodies.
“We urge the public to verify any investment opportunity with the CBN and SEC before engaging. The EFCC remains committed to safeguarding the public from predatory operators and ensuring a corruption-free economic environment,” the statement added.
The CBEX crash has sparked reactions from Nigerians on X in the last 48 hours.
Explaining the CBEX crash, cryptocurrency expert and security analyst Taiwo Owolabi said the total volume of stolen investors’ funds so far in USDT is $847 million.
CBEX woos its investors with an offer of 100 per cent return on investment in 30 days, he said in a recent X space he hosted.
Meanwhile, other sources argued that the amount lost to CBEX was significantly less, indicating that at least $6.1 million has been deposited into the fake exchange account of the scheme.
In his reaction, Steve Fred, a user on X, wrote on Tuesday:
“Are we not just fantastically stupid in Nigeria?
“Nigerians are as gullible as their leaders. How many times will they be scammed before they make sense?
“How can a company like ‘CBEX’ just appear from thin air and promise you 100 percent ROI in 1 month, and you begin to invest?”
Another user, known on X as Oku, reacting to the CBEX crash, said:
“The smaller the profit, the more I TRUST YOU.
“You have no business doing a business that promises you 50 per cent to 100 per cent ROI.”
Although Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission has not issued a fresh statement on CBEX, the commission spokesperson, Efe Ebelo, reiterated the commitment to clamp down on unregistered digital investments and Ponzi schemes.
Earlier, the SEC warned Nigerians to beware of Ponzi schemes and unregistered trading platforms.
This comes as the Director-General of the commission, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, said that with the ISA 2025 recently signed by President Bola Tinubu, it is now an offence for any entity to operate an online forex trading platform or provide related services without prior registration with the commission.
DAILY POST reports that Ibadan residents in Oyo state stormed and looted the office of CBEX
Meanwhile, the CBEX offices in Lagos and Abuja remained under lock and key as of Tuesday.
Recall that in the last eight years, Nigerians have been particularly susceptible to several Ponzi schemes.
In 2016, it was Mundial Moneybox, MMM, before it crashed.
After MMM’s crash, Ultimate Cycler took root in Nigeria before it collapsed, with investors’ funds trapped.
MBA Forex Trading and Capital Investment Limited, Twinkas, D9 Club, Famzhi Interbiz Limited, Red King’ Chinmark Group, Brisk Capital, and Ovaioza Farm Produce Storage are some of the Ponzi schemes that have defrauded thousands of Nigerians of funds amounting to billions of Naira.
