EFCC recovers N216m From “Swiss Golden”
- The EFCC arrested three persons in connection to Golden Swiss fraud
- The investment company was accused of defrauding thousands of Nigerians
- The agency said those involved will be brought to book
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested three persons who were allegedly running Swiss Golden Investment, a company reportedly defrauding thousands of Nigerians.
This was contained in a post published by the anti-graft agency on Monday, April 16.
It accused Swiss Golden of receiving about N3 billion from Nigerians on the guise of investment with promise to provide returns but none was made.
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The three accused persons have been taken to the Kano division of the EFCC for further investigation.
Read statement below:
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has recovered a total of N216,402,565.05 (Two Hundred and Sixteen Million, Four Hundred and Two Thousand, Five Hundred Sixty Naira, Five Kobo) only from Swiss Golden Investment, an online investment that purportedly deals in buying and selling of Gold Bars.
The recovery was sequel to a petition the Commission received from thousands of complainants who alleged that they invested in Swiss Golden Investment which was advertised as an online investment that deals with buying and selling of Gold Bars. The petitioner further alleged that after investing over a billion naira into the business, the company refused to pay them any dividend or pay them back their capital.
Upon receipt of the petition, the Commission invited the petitioners and they volunteered statements. Through intelligence, the Commission picked up one Maxim Lobaty, a Russian and two Nigerians: Austin Emenike and Dickson Nonso Onuchukwu in Lagos. The trio were subsequently conveyed to the Kano operational zone of the EFCC for further investigation.
Swiss Golden which is headquartered in Hong Kong was discovered through investigation to be a Ponzi scheme that was designed to defraud innocent victims of their hard earned money.
After being drilled at the Commission's Kano Zonal Office, Maxim and his co-suspects consented to the refund of the investment. Subsequently, a total sum of N216,402,565.05 (Two Hundred and Sixteen Million, Four Hundred and Two Thousand, Five Hundred Sixty Five Naira) only have now been recovered.
However, while the investigation was on going, it was discovered that, Swiss Golden Company Limited has defrauded over seven thousand Nigerians to the tune of over N3,000,000,000 (Three Billion Naira) only.
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Investigation into the alleged fraud is still ongoing and all efforts are being made to recover the money involved and the alleged suspects be brought to justice.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) urged Nigerians to be wary of “wonder banks” that give extra-ordinary interest rates and profits on investments.
Its managing director, Umaru Ibrahim, gave the advice in an address at the NDIC special day at the ongoing 29th Enugu international trade fair in Enugu on Thursday, March 22, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Umaru, who was represented by NDIC director of strategy development, Festus Ekechi, said many Nigerians had continued to lose fortunes and even their life savings to Ponzi schemes and other illegal fund managers with disastrous consequences.
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Source: Legit.ng
