Cross River Community Hit by Latest Investment Scam, Leaving Hundreds Devastated

Residents of Cross River State have fallen prey to yet another Ponzi scheme, TAG Investment Platform, which ceased operations after just three weeks in Calabar, leaving a trail of devastated clients in its wake. The scheme's abrupt collapse prompted irate investors to storm the company's office on Friday, only to discover that the operators had vanished.

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Angry clients proceeded to loot the office, making off with items such as 10-kilogramme bags of rice, office furniture, and bicycles, with some even pulling down doors and windows in a desperate bid to salvage something from their losses.

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Ogwaje, a distraught trader from the nearby Watt Market, recounted her ordeal, sobbing as she revealed that she had invested N500,000 in the first week and received N1 million, only to reinvest the money and find out on Friday that the operators had fled.

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She had planned to use the funds to restock her shop before the scheme's collapse, and now believes that the operators had intentionally set out to deceive investors by promising high returns, with many clients being told to collect their funds on the very day the scheme collapsed.

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Another victim was seen screaming in distress, having not only lost her investment but also had her phone stolen in the chaos, as she struggled to claim a bicycle from the office, pleading with others to help her locate her missing phone.

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Cross River State has a long and troubling history of being targeted by Ponzi schemes, with one notable example being the case of Umannah Ummanah, who ran a "Wonder bank" from a two-bedroom apartment, collecting large sums of money from investors before disappearing, leaving many in financial ruin.

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The state also witnessed a spate of problems during the MMM era, with some individuals reportedly taking their own lives after losing their life savings and borrowed money, yet many residents still seem to have not learned from these cautionary tales.

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Three years ago, a Ponzi scheme operator known as Michael launched a scheme called Micheno in the Bakassi Local Government Area, which eventually collapsed, resulting in the loss of over N1.5 billion in customer savings, with the operator being arrested but ultimately not facing any consequences.

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The Micheno debacle was followed by the emergence of the NRC, which set up offices across the state and attracted large numbers of investors, only to disappear when the maturity period approached, leaving many with significant financial losses.

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Last year, another Ponzi scheme set up shop on Bassey Duke Street, where it operated until it suddenly shut down overnight, with operators disappearing with hundreds of millions of naira, and staff who were unaware of the scheme's true nature being beaten by angry crowds the next morning.

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An official from the Ministry of Finance noted that Ponzi scheme operators typically do not register or inform the ministry of their activities, and that investors often fail to seek information about the schemes before depositing their money, leaving the ministry in the dark until it is too late.

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As the latest batch of victims comes to terms with their losses, it appears that the cycle of deception is set to continue, unless residents learn to verify investment opportunities and resist the allure of unrealistically high returns that are often characteristic of such schemes.