*Securities and Exchange Commission cautions investors that preliminary investigation revealed that Poyoyo Investment (Pilvest) Nigeria Limited is purely a Ponzi scheme as it is a non-sustainable business model involving collection of money from unsuspecting investors

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In a move to protect Nigerian investors from frauds, the country’s apex Capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has alerted the investing public to the activities of a firm known as “Poyoyo Investment (Pilvest) Nigeria Limited.

ConsumerConnect reports the market regulator says Pilvest’s is a Ponzi scheme and front to defraud unsuspecting investors in the country.

SEC in a circular issued to this effect at the weekend noted that its attention had been drawn to the electronic and WhatsApp messages currently being circulated to investors on behalf of Pilvest.

The Capital market regulatory Commission stated that the electronic message indicates a proposal to investors to invest in guaranteed investment plans of either a minimum capital of N100,000 being invested for a period of one month with a returns on investment (ROI) yield of 20 percent or a minimum capital of N300,000 being invested for a period of three months with a monthly ROI yield of 23 percent monthly “and total ROI yield is 69 percent” or a minimum capital of N500,000 being invested for a period of six months with “a ROI yield of 25 percent monthly and total ROI yield is 150 percent” or a minimum capital of N1 million being invested for a period of one year with a “ROI  yield of 30 percent monthly and total ROI yield is 360 percent.

SEC stated in the circular: “Besides the obvious errors in the returns calculations above, preliminary investigation has revealed that Poyoyo Investment (Pilvest) Nigeria Limited is purely a Ponzi scheme as it is a non-sustainable business model that involves the collection of money from unsuspecting investors with a promise of high return without any underlying assets.

“The Commission hereby notifies the investing public that Poyoyo Investment (Pilvest) Nigeria Limited have no tangible business model; hence it is a Ponzi scheme where returns are paid from other people’s invested sum.”

The regulator further noted: “Also, its operation is not registered by the Commission.

“In view of the above, the general public is hereby warned that any person dealing with the named company in any capital market related business is doing so at his/her own risk.”