29th September, 2020
Wonder banks which normally promise unsuspecting patrons fantastic returns, are blooming in northern Nigeria, the Securities and Exchange Commission warned on Tuesday.
Kano Zonal Head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mohammed Danladi raised the alarm, during a visit to the EFCC counterpart, Sanusi Aliyu Mohammed.
Danladi did not give figures, but expressed concern about their increasing menace and the challenges they pose to SEC in tracking them.
According to him, the operators of the illegal scheme are taking advantage of the financial illiteracy of the public to defraud them in the name of investment.
He added that most of the Ponzi scheme operators avoid SEC registration because they know they would be monitored.
Danladi sought the collaboration of the EFCC to tackle the problem, also known as Ponzi scheme.
Both agencies agreed to work together, according to a statement by EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren.
The SEC Zonal Head described his visit to EFCC as an effort to solidify the already existing relationship between EFCC and SEC.
“This visit is nothing more than to solidify the existing relationship between EFCC and SEC which dates back to the inception of EFCC. We are here to renew that relationship, foster it and fight the common enemy together”, he said.
In his response, the EFCC Zonal Head, Sanusi Mohammed, suggested a joint operation between the two agencies to curtail the spread of Ponzi schemes and prevent the public from falling victims of the scam.
Mohammed further assured the SEC of the Commission’s continued support as the two agencies share common objectives to fight financial crimes.
“As long as the mandate of EFCC and that of SEC remain, you cannot separate the SEC and EFCC. We will continue to work together institutionally,”he said.
“Where the SEC’s main concern is to make sure investors are protected from losing their investments, the EFCC’s concern is the protection of the general public from the activities of fraudsters, which are one and the same,” the Zonal Head added.