The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has declared that an ‎estimated three million Nigerians lost N18 billion in the Mavrodi Mundial Movement (MMM) ponzi scheme.

This was revealed in Kaduna on Thursday by the Managing Director of the corporation, Umaru Ibrahim, while speaking at the NDIC day at the ongoing 38th Kaduna International Trade Fair.

Represented by NDIC’s Deputy Director Corporate Affairs, Hadi Suleiman, Ibrahim noted that despite repeated warnings by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerians still patronised the ponzi scheme.

He said that over three million Nigerians were participating in the scheme before December 2016 when organisers suspended payment to investors due to its system

By the time the scheme returned in January, few new investors joined and the millions waiting for their payments were left disappointed with majority never paid.

He noted that financial deals done through any ponzi scheme in form of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Ripples, Litecoin, and Onecoin as currencies for medium of exchange, is not authorised by the CBN because of the risks involved in its operations.

He also declared that any person or groups of persons who invest their money in the Phonzi scheme do so at their own risk.

“The ponzi scheme is the phenomenon of illegal fund managers, popularly called Wonder Banks which have continued to defraud unsuspecting members of the public of their hard earned money,” he said.

“This phenomenon has been a source for concern because despite our repeated warnings over the years, some members of the public have continued to fall victims of their fraudulent practices.

“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.”