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By Daniel Adaji
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it is scaling up efforts to identify and prosecute operators of Ponzi schemes across the country as part of a renewed push to protect investors and strengthen market integrity.
It disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
The Commission announced the move at its Journalists’ Academy 2025 in Lagos, where its Divisional Head of Legal and Enforcement, Mr. John Achile, stressed that the ISA 2025 gives the regulator stronger backing to go after illegal investment promoters.
Achile said the Commission would deepen its cooperation with other agencies to unmask those behind such schemes and curb the trading of fraudulent assets. He explained that SEC would continue to work closely with law enforcement bodies to ensure full criminal investigation and prosecution.
He stated that SEC would continue to ensure criminal investigation/prosecution in collaboration with agencies such as the Nigeria Police Force, EFCC, and the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, among others.
Speaking on “Combating Investments Fraud, Ponzi Schemes and Illegal Investments,” he noted that the Commission would also freeze accounts and seal offices linked to fraudulent operators. “The commission would continue to freeze the accounts and seal-up offices of the preparators,” he said.
Achile highlighted signs that typically give away Ponzi schemes, noting that they depend on bringing in new investors to pay earlier ones.
“It requires the entrance of new investors to pay existing investors,” he said, adding that investors are often issued “fake documents or incomplete documents.”
He listed other red flags, including unusually high returns with minimal risk, promises of consistent gains despite economic realities, lack of registration with regulators, and promoters who are unknown to oversight bodies.
He urged Nigerians to be wary of offers that seem too good to be true. He cautioned the public to conduct proper checks and avoid “get-rich-quick” investment platforms.
The SEC representative advised investors to always “enquire from regulators of the sector of business touted before investing.”
According to him, Ponzi schemes may appear as investments in agriculture, cryptocurrency, gold, or other lucrative-sounding ventures.
“Ponzi scheme could be structured as investment in agricultural business or processing along the value chain, investment in Bitcoin or cryptocurrency or other digital currencies and investment in gold coins or precious stones,” he said.
He warned that such schemes erode public trust and destabilise the financial system. They often result in “loss of confidence in the regulator and the government when failurw occurs, reduces deposit in commercial banks, diversion of savings, huge scale of loses to investors and attendant socio-economic problems.”
This year’s academy is themed: “The ISA 2025 and The Future of Nigeria’s Capital Market: Innovation, Protection, and Growth.”