From Rotimi Agboluaje, Ibadan
Some angry residents in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Monday night stormed the office of CBEX, an online investment platform, following reports that the scheme had crashed.
The CBEX office, located in the Oke-Ado area of the city, was besieged by investors demanding explanations and expressing frustration over the sudden collapse of the platform in which many had reportedly invested substantial sums.
Eyewitnesses said the crowd gathered to register their grievances after being unable to access their funds on the platform. Some of the aggrieved investors lamented the lack of clear communication from the operators.
In the wake of the incident, financial experts have cautioned Nigerians against unregulated digital investment platforms. Speaking with The Guardian in Ibadan yesterday, a former banker and finance lecturer at Babcock University, Dr Yinka Akintunde, described the CBEX operation as a Ponzi scheme disguised as an investment platform.
According to him, “The scheme collapsed because it was not built on any genuine business model. There was no transparency, and the funds were moved from users’ TRX wallets to other cryptocurrencies such as USDT and ETH, leaving only fictitious balances.”
He added that the platform’s alleged AI trading activities were fabricated and withdrawals were funded using deposits from new investors; a hallmark of Ponzi operations.
Also speaking, IT consultant and Founder of PageCarton, Ayoola Falola, warned that such schemes are intentionally designed to benefit only their creators, often at the expense of vulnerable investors blinded by promises of quick returns.
He urged Nigerians to invest only in platforms registered with and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other appropriate bodies.
