A Nigerian couple, Bamise Samson Ajetunmobi and his wife, Elizabeth, is on the run with over N22 Billion Naira from investors, a reminiscence of the Ponzi schemes, get-rich-quick businesses and other pyramidal crimes have seen many citizens fall victim.
The couple manifested the its scheme through their company, Imagine Lenders.
Both Bamise Samson Ajetunmobi and his wife, Elizabeth have been both declared wanted for fraud, an online newspaper, Gatekeepers News, reports.
Already, efforts are being made by some persons to track the couple down in the United Kingdom, where it is believed they have been hiding.
The news of the fraud started as victims started alerting media houses,
Said a couple: “The couple can’t be reached, but my people have been assured that their funds are safe and that we shouldn’t alert anyone, but I doubt if that’s the best way to go”, said our whistleblower.
Findings by this reporter have revealed that there’s more to what was thought to be a hushed story. It was also discovered that apart from the fact that the couple can no longer be reached, Bamise’s wife’s Instagram account has now been moved to a private mode.
An Instagram user, @_trapselena_ alleged that Piggyvest and other top organisations in Nigeria invested in the company.
The user narrated, “Just like MMM, Muyiwa and Glory Osei, MBA, etc., another financial fraud couple has struck again. Nigerians will never learn.
“This couple Bamise and Elizabeth, are currently on the run with monies of Nigerians running into billions.
“The man, a former staff of Zenith bank, operates a micro-lending platform for small and medium-scale traders.
“He collects money from investors, lends to the traders at 22 per cent interest, then returns 10 per cent of the profit to investors monthly.
“The lady is one of the clique members of Naija brand chic them, and she runs a domestic staffing platform for hiring help.
“For the past couple of months, investors have neither seen their money nor heard from them.
“At this point now, both couple are in hiding and are possibly out of the country as they have investments outside Nigeria.
“They have a house in Dubai and one in the UK. Late last year, they bought citizenship to Antigua and Barbuda for themselves and two kids.
“The lady is enrolled in East London University UK. Major investors include Elevation church which gave them 500M naira.
“They attend Daystar Christian Centre where some of the money has been donated towards church programme.
“Total exposure from people that are known is currently to the tune of 22 billion Naira, and more people are still coming out.
“There is an ongoing recovery WhatsApp group I hear is filling up, and they are being tracked in the UK as people have started filing with efcc to connect with Interpol to fish them out.”
PiggyVest Refutes Investment Claims
One of those mentioned to have invested in Imagine Lenders is Nigeria’s central secure online savings platform PiggyVest. PiggyVest helps over two million customers achieve their financial goals by saving and investing with ease.
Gatekeepers News efforts to reach Piggyvest were abortive as their official contact number is switched off.
However, in their response to the allegation, PiggyVest, via its Twitter handle, stated that the claims are false and baseless.
The statement read, “All Piggyvest user funds remain safe and secure as always.”
Elevation Church Stays Hush
Also, one of those mentioned to have lost money Is Elevation Church.
Elevation Church is a Baptist Evangelical multi-site megachurch Church, led by Pastors Godman and Bolarinwa Akinlabi supported by a team of Pastors and Ministers.
The church has failed to respond to inquiries or confirm if they lost money to the fraud.
Daystar Church’s Response
Also, Daystar Christian Centre was also reported to have lost money to the Fraud,
The church was established by Sam & Nike Adeyemi in November 18, 1995.
But the Church denied having information on the fraud allegations.
“It’s Difficult To Confirm” – EFCC
The user who reveal the details of the fraud said petitions have been passed to the EFCC.
Gatekeepers News contacted the EFCC Spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, to confirm if truly petitions have been submitted.
He said, “It’s difficult to confirm. Petitions don’t pass through my office and we receive hundreds of them across all our offices on daily basis.”
What We Know About Bamise Ajetunmobi
Bamise Samson Ajetunmobi was a relatively unknown staff of a top Nigerian bank where he worked for almost a decade to start his Imagine Lenders firm around 2016.
The graduate of Banking and Finance from Madonna University, Okija first customers were his former colleague where he worked. Some of those who trusted him were also able to convince others to invest their funds in place of a 10 % monthly return on investment.
Like many other Ponzi schemes, his first investors were paid and on time. Word began to spread about his “honesty” that many others trooped in to invest their hard-earned money.
In no time, many stopped patronising traditional banks and moved their funds to Imagine Lenders. The trouble started when last month a bunch of investors were unable to get their RoI and all efforts to reach him and his wife have failed.