An estimated three million Nigerians have lost about N18 billion in the Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox (MMM) Ponzi scheme, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said.

Speaking at the NDIC Day at the ongoing 38th Kaduna International Trade Fair yesterday, the Managing Director of the corporation, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, decried that despite repeated warnings by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the corporation, Nigerians still patronise MMM.

Represented by the Deputy Director Corporate Affairs, Hadi Suleiman, the MD emphasised that the creation, usage or trading in the Ponzi scheme in forms of virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Onecoin as currencies for medium of exchange are internet-based transactions and are not authorised by the CBN due to the risks involved in their operations.

He cautioned that any person or groups of persons who invest their money in the Ponzi scheme does so at their own risk.

“We would like to reiterate the fact that these fund managers are illegal as they are neither licenced by the CBN to take deposits from members of the public nor are those who patronise them covered by the NDIC deposit insurance scheme. I want to also draw the attention of some cooperative societies which often go beyond their primary mandates by accepting contributions from members as cooperative societies are only recognised to mobilise savings from their members,” he said. (Daily Trust)