CBN, NDIC Warn against Ponzi Schemes

• CBN, NDIC Warn against Ponzi Schemes

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) thursday in Enugu warned Nigerians against patronising various ponzi schemes and other forms of digital and block-chain currencies currently in vogue in the country. The agencies insisted that the schemes were neither authorised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) nor insured by the NDIC.

The NDIC Managing Director, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim who spoke at the corporation’s special day at the ongoing 28th Enugu International Trade fair expressed dismay that ponzi schmes have been seen as investment opportunities and platforms for easy money by unsuspecting members of the public.

Umaru who was represented by the Enugu Zonal Controller, Nicholas Ayuba, said the schemes have not only appeared in form of virtual and digital currencies in the nation’s financial landscape, they have also attracted the media and regulatory attention.

As a result of the disturbing developments, Umaru said a study on the virtual and digital currencies for the purpose of consumer protection, financial education and in the overall interest of the nation’s economic development had been commissioned by the regulatory authorities.

The study according to him is expected to come up with legal and regulatory framework for the acceptance of the schemes in currency and banking regulations, adding that it had become important for stakeholders to partner with NDIC in discharging its core mandate of depositor protection.

He also raised alarm at the activities of some cooperative societies which had gone beyond their primary mandate of accepting contributions from their registered members, noting that the cooperative societies were nit established to mobilise funds from none members. He therefore urged non-members to desist from patronising them as they are neither licensed as deposit taking financial institutions nor insured by the NDIC.

He also drew tne attention of the public to the dangers involved in keeping large sums of money either at home, in market shops or other unsafe outlets, adding that utilizing the banks remained the best to avoid the dangers of fire and armed robbery.

Earlier, the president of Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Ugo Chime, said the role of NDIC in the protection of depositors’ funds with banks and other financial institutions had remained noteworthy.