The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has launched an investigation into the alleged N1.3tn frauds perpetrated through a digital investment platform, CryptoBank Exchange.
CBEX, operated by a group of foreign nationals in collaboration with their Nigerian partners, reportedly collapsed on Monday, leaving thousands of investors stranded and unable to access their funds.
The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, on Tuesday that the commission would collaborate with the International Criminal Police Organization to investigate the incident.
Oyewale stated that the agency had already begun investigating CBEX before its collapse.
He added that efforts were underway to arrest both the local and international operators behind the fraudulent scheme.
He said, “We had our intelligence before the incident. We were already working on it, but now that the scheme has collapsed, the major actors and their collaborators will be brought in.
“We will ensure that we save Nigerians from all these troubles associated with Ponzi schemes. Don’t forget that we already issued an advisory — the 58 companies we alerted the public about. There are many more we are currently investigating.”
He also revealed that the commission was working to uncover other Ponzi schemes operating across the country.
“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 INTERPOL to trace the foreign operators,” he added.