Ponzi Scheme: After the Fall of Almighty MMM, Comes Twinkas

After suffering huge finan­cial losses to the failed Ponzi scheme, Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox popularly known as MMM in 2016, some Nigerians have resorted to a sim­ilar scheme known as Twinkas.
Most of the subscribers to the scheme said that they were forced to do so by the current economic crunch and the non-payment of their salaries by their employers.
They added that they had learnt lessons from the col­lapse of MMM and were there­fore staking minimal amounts in Twinkas.

In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, the residents, linked their “willingness to in­vest in the scheme to the present economic hardship in Nigeria.
According to them, the eco­nomic situation has encouraged many Nigerians to participate in money-doubling schemes such as Twinkas, in spite of the pos­sible risks.
The residents said the scheme provides them with 100 percent interest on their investments.
Valerie Dada, a civil servant, said that she was encouraged to participate in Twinkas, because salaries were delayed sometimes.
“Salaries are sometimes de­layed and I have bills to pay, so I decided to take some of my sav­ings and invest in the scheme.
“There are many schemes that arose after MMM, which is suspected to have crashed and these schemes have better pack­ages and interest rates to attract people.
“I am currently participating in Twinkas because it has proven to be reliable so far, with an inter­est of 100 percent on all amounts of money invested.
“That is a package I feel is worth the risk, so that I can af­ford to pay my bills,” she said.
Mrs. Teju Akindele, an ac­countant, said: “we know the risks of these programmes and we know how some people be­came suicidal after MMM failed, but we have all learned from that.
“We know that we have to put in only the money we can af­ford to lose and not the money we have kept aside for something important.
“It is important for Nigeri­ans who are participating in these programmes or schemes to avoid becoming greedy.
“They should ensure that they don’t get tempted to invest more than they can because the programme has proven to be suc­cessful.
“I can’t blame anyone who is into this because the economy has not been too rosy in the last few months.”
Similarly, Mr. Kayode Olu­semire, an entrepreneur said that he decided to partake in Twinkas and a number of other schemes to support his business.
He, however, cautioned Nigerians not to invest huge amount of money as well as not to exceed a specific duration.
“I took part in MMM scheme for a year and I lost some money at the end of the year.
“I later learnt of other schemes that paid more mon­ey than MMM and I decided to take part in some of them, but I will make sure I don’t exceed six months in each scheme.
“I believe Twinkas is making a reliable name for itself, so that they can attract more people into the scheme but I know it will fold up at some point in time.
“Greed is what makes people depressed after these schemes fail and we all know that these schemes have an expiry date af­ter a couple of years.
“I also ensure that I invest only a certain amount of money and reinvest the profit made, that way, I wouldn’t feel depressed if the scheme crashes.
“The money I have gotten from these schemes has been ben­eficial to the survival of my busi­ness in this economy.
“As I wait for government to fix the economy, I think I will con­tinue to take the risk with these money-doubling schemes,” Olu­semire said.
NAN reports that the Nige­rian Deposit Insurance Corpora­tion (NDIC), had said that an es­timated three million Nigerians lost N18 billion to MMM scheme.
The Managing Director of the corporation, Mr Umaru Ibrahim while speaking at the NDIC day at the just concluded 38th Kadu­na International Trade Fair, said more than three million Nigerians were participating in the scheme before December 2016.
Ibrahim said this was before the organisers suspended pay­ment to investors due to its system “experiencing heavy workload.
He stated that when the scheme resumed in January, some new investors joined, while the millions waiting to be paid were disappointed as majority of them were never paid.
The managing director said that in spite of repeated warn­ings by the Central Bank of Ni­geria (CBN), and other anti-graft agencies, Nigerians still patron­ised the Ponzi scheme.
“Any financial deal done through any Ponzi scheme in form of virtual currencies for me­dium of exchange, is an internet-based transaction not authorised by the CBN, because of the risks involved in its operations.