Investment Fraud: Aggrieved Investors In MBA Trading Limited Protest Over Alleged N171billion Fraud

Some aggrieved investors in the embattled MBA Trading & Capital Investment Limited in Rivers State on Monday staged a protest at the offices of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Central Bank of Nigeria over the delay to recoup their capital and return on investment (ROI).

The aggrieved investors have written several petitions against MBA Trading and Capital Investment Limited, a forex training and capital investment company, and its Executive Officer, Maxwell Odum, who is now at large over their inability to pay capital and ROI to investors.

The amount involved is said to be about one hundred and seventy-one billion naira (N171,128,219,041).

They displayed placards with different inscriptions such as: “Godwill Emefiele, Abdulrasheed Bawa, protect Nigerian investors”, “CBN what is the outcome of your 180 days of investigation”, and “Nigerian investors are dying as a result of their unpaid capital with MBA capital limited”.

A statement signed by the aggrieved investors read in part: We would like to draw your attention to the fact that investors of MBA Trading & Capital Investment Limited have since the 11th of August 2021 been very eager to know the outcome of CBN investigation after getting an interim court order in a legal suit with Number FHC/PH/MIsC/35/2021, filed before the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on the 10th of February, 2021, to stop all debit transactions from MBA accounts pending the outcome of the said investigation.

However, the outcome of the 180-day investigation which elapsed on the 11th of August, 2021 has not been made known to Nigerians Investors by the CBN.

In line with the transparency and accountability drive of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, we urge the EFCC to swing into intensive investigative action as the nation's law enforcement agency that is saddled with the responsibility to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalise economic and financial crimes and is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of other laws and regulations relating to economic and financial crimes, to investigate financial crimes such as this and to openly inform Nigerians exactly what is going on or what has gone wrong with investors' capital to the tune of N171,128,219,041 (One hundred seventy-one billion, one hundred and twenty-eight million, two hundred and nineteen thousand, and forty-one kobo). by 125,397 (one hundred and twenty-five thousand, three hundred and ninety-seven) genuine hard-working Nigerian investors into MBA trading & capital limited.

Mr Chairman, may we also bring to your knowledge that at a press conference unveiling MBA trading & capital investment Bare to Blue Banquet' that was held in Lagos on 16th and 17th of August 2019, the CEO of MBA, Maxwell Odum warned Nigerians not to see forex trading as gambling, saying MBA Forex and Capital Investment Limited is registered and certified by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. He also added that the company has also been cleared by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“Those listed to also have certified the company include the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to allay the fears of Nigerians on the issue of fraud. Also in attendance was His Excellency, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), ably represented by Dr. L. Cephas and also the Chairman, Anti-Corruption and Transparency Monitoring Unit, Presidential Villa, Alhaji Ahmad Sulaiman, who enjoined Nigerians to invest in MBA forex. ”According to him, MBA Forex and Investment Limited has been certified by the necessary regulatory agencies in Nigeria, and that the company unlike others before it, is not a Ponzi scheme.

Do we wonder why officers of the Presidency, men of timber and calibre should make this kind of statement if they were not sure of what they were saying？ Why was no disclaimer issued at once if indeed they were not officially empowered to make this representation on behalf of the Presidency at that time？ Why was there no disclaimer by the EFCC at that time？ Why was there no disclaimer by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Security and Exchange Commission at that time？ Why are they silent now that investors cannot even get back their capital？

“We also understand that activities of the ACTUs are guided by the Standing Order for the Operations of ACTUs, issued by ICPC. However, if you refuse to accede to our request to investigate, retrieve and return Nigerian investors' capital to MBA investors, we shall have no other alternative but to initiate legal proceedings at the Federal High Court against all parties aforementioned.”