The Securities and Exchange Commission has expressed fresh concerns over Nigerians’ appetite for investing in Ponzi schemes despite the availability of safer, regulated investment products.
The Head of the Enforcement Department at the SEC, Sa’ad Abdulsalam, made this observation on Thursday at the Capital Market Enlightenment Programme organised for the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria at its Lagos office.
The SEC said that about three million Nigerians lost N18bn when the popular Ponzi scheme, Mavrodi Mundial Movement, aka MMM, crashed in 2016.
As of 2022, Nigerians had lost over N300bn in Ponzi schemes in five years, according to a report generated by the Norrenberger Financial Investments scheme.
While speaking on the need for greater public awareness and due diligence in investment decisions, Abdulsalam noted that many Nigerians continue to fall victim to fraudulent schemes in search of unrealistic returns despite the numerous legitimate investment vehicles approved and supervised by the Commission.
“There are many credible products for people to invest in,” Abdulsalam said.
