From Ovaioza to Chinmark, Inside the Fake World of Investment Scammers
Attempted suicide, suicide, heart attacks — victims of Ponzi schemes branded as investment platforms know these effects well.
Every day, new investment schemes emerge, trying to establish themselves in the market and earn the trust of their target audience. Sometimes, investors get lucky. Other times, they are not, especially in the area of differentiating Ponzi schemes from legitimate investment platforms.
Below are some investments that have been flagged as scams and their patterns of operations.
OVAIOZA FARM PRODUCE STORAGE BUSINESS (OFPB)
The past week saw the fall of Ovaioza Farm Produce Storage Business (OFPB), owned Imu Ovaioza Yunusa a 28-year-old graduate of School of Nursing And Midwifery, Nasarawa State.
Founded in 2020, OFPB made its investors believe it ran a farm produce storage and processing investment scheme.
However, trouble came knocking when Ovaioza suddenly discontinued payment of Returns on Investment (ROI) to her investors in the first quarter of 2021.
In March 2022, when investors complained of non payment of their ROI, she was quick to attribute the problem to the issues are company was having with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), over certification.
In the end, it turned out that Ovaioza had mismanaged billions of naira belonging to thousands of investors.
She was arrested alongside her husband in Abuja while trying to flee the country on April 18.