The initiators and
administrators of the Mavrodi Mundial Moneybag (MMM), a Ponzi scheme
through which they allegedly defrauded a large number of Nigerians and
in the process siphoned about N18 billion from the country, has deployed
new tricks to lure fresh members into the fraudulent investment scheme.
In the heat of concerns expressed in several quarters
about MMM last year and particularly after the Central Bank of Nigeria,
the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and the media, warned
Nigerians to be wary of it, the scheme was temporarily suspended in
December 2016 to dampen the pressure of demands by participants to be
paid their accrued benefits.
When the scheme was reactivated in January this year, new
conditions were set by the administrators and made binding on the
existing participants with long overdue deposits, otherwise called
“mavros” to seek out and bring in new members.
One of the conditions put a restriction on the amount of
money to be paid out per day with a proviso that members with lower
amounts would be settled first, while others with higher amounts
invested in the scheme should wait a bit longer.
In other words, members who had low levels of PH (provide
help) would benefit first from the new payment arrangement while the
entitlements of members with higher PH (mavros) were still held back.
The more senior members, known as guiders under the urging
of the administrators have been pushing members with reasonable amounts
still trapped in the vaults of the scheme to begin building networks of
prospective new members and thereby be able to earn referral bonuses.
One of the frustrated participants, Abdullahi Azeez, told Sunday Sun
the quest of the administrators and guiders to lure new members
manifestly demonstrates their selfishness saying it was horrible of them
to continue to speak well about MMM.
His words: “All these people supporting a Ponzi scheme
like MMM are guiders. They don’t care if you lose your money. They are
only interested in the bonus they will get. My brother, anybody still
supporting MMM is a guider. Guiders in the Ponzi scheme are a wicked set
of people. They don’t care if you lose all your life savings. As long
as they get their bonus, they are very okay,” said Azeez.
Investigations also revealed that the administrators
recently unveiled a weekly promo aimed at enticing both old and new
participants. Members are mandated to invite new participants and
register them to qualify for the promo.
Sunday Sun gathered that under the campaign called “Promo-Task Contest”, lucky winners can get cash prizes between N30,000 and N500,000.
On the scheme’s website a memo on the promo reads in part:
“MMM Nigeria launches the first Promo-Task Contest – which a relevant
section has been created for the contest in the Personal Office.
“Winners are selected based on the number of points
received for completing promo-tasks. Whoever receives the biggest number
of points becomes the winner.
“The contest period is from Monday to Sunday while at the
end of each week, winners are announced and awarded Mavros (cash prizes)
available for output. The contest offers 50 prizes with a gradation of
prizes advertised. The first prize winner get N500,000; N300,000 for
second place and N200,000 for third place. The fourth to the 10th place
winners get N100,000 each; 11th to 30th place winners get N50,000 each
while participants who placed 31th to 50th win N30,000 each.
“Members can compete in both online and offline tasks with
a focus to promoting the community and contributing to growth of the
scheme.”
Since the new initiative commenced, participants who have
been providing help with the hope of getting 10 per cent of their 2016
mavros have not all had equal luck. Some confessed to Sunday Sun
that they have been so frustrated by the scheme, while others lament
that both their old and new mavros have been trapped in the system.
A participant, named Joshua (refused to state his surname) told Sunday Sun
that “the system always warns that every participant should participate
with spare money. I have got part of my old mavros and I am still
getting it. The system also gives you 10 per cent of the help people
under me provide.”
However, Sunday Sun learnt
that one unlucky participant, in a message sent to the administrators,
lamented that she provided help just to get part of her old mavros but
the person she was paired with uploaded a fake bank deposit slip as a
proof of payment.”
However, when asked whether she would continue to
participate in MMM, she did not give a definite answer. While some
participants who got burnt have emphatically said they would never have
anything to do with Ponzi scheme, others are still sticking with the
scheme and endorsing it.
He said: “When MMM pays me my money, then I will believe them,” one Iyke Cletus posted online.
Another, One Chigozie Adaku added on Facebook: “Another Christmas is around the corner. Don’t be fooled the second time.”
Emeka Nwachukwu, a businessman, who said he has withdrew
from the scheme, after losing a lot of money, added: “In spite of all
the warning and advice given to these people (participants), they have
refused to desist from it, and I keep wondering if Ponzi schemes have
become antibiotics to some people. Are you not tired of losing your
entire savings to these heartless fellows? I do wonder sometimes if the
brain of our youths is being separated from their real self.”
A rather unrepentant participant tweeted: “It is our
choice. It is our money. It is our bank account details. We are involved
in this community while in our sound mind.”
An engineer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity
defended the scheme which, according to him, failed because of the
greedy ones.
“When MMM was reactivated after the suspension, we saw
that there were things that made the programmers to see that the system
was not sustainable and needed to be temporarily frozen. You see, many
people had more than two to three accounts. The integrity aspect of it
is what is affecting the MMM in Nigeria. For me, I still reserve
absolute confidence in MMM. A lot of these people complaining have two
to three accounts. Anyone that complains should reveal his private
office to me and let me see how much of help the person has provided and
how much he/she has got. Mavrodi doesn’t have any million somewhere. It
is what people pay in that others get,” he said.
MMM, it was learnt, still has over three million active
and non-active participants in the country. Meanwhile, the continued
participation of some Nigerians in the Ponzi scheme despite the stern
warning of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) and financial experts.
By AYO ALONGE ( ayhalliday@yahoo.com )
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