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Ex-banker in police custody for over N500m ponzi scheme fraud

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The Lagos State Police Command has arrested an ex-banker, Seyi Onigbinde for allegedly defrauding 354 people to the tune of over N500 million.

Onigbinde was said to have been engaged in illegal foreign exchange deals under the business name, Blueprint Business and Consulting, through which he was able to convince 354 Nigerians to invest for mouth watering returns.

The suspect was said to have successfully helped the first set of investors to make returns on their investment, an action that prompted them to help convince the greater number of those who later became Onigbinde’s victim.

According to a statement by the state police spokesman, Bala Elkana, Onigbinde, though gave his office address as No. 13 Hughes Street, Alagomeji, Yaba, Lagos, he was operating from his place of residence on No. 7 Eyiowuawi Street, in the Pedro area of Shomolu, Lagos.

It was learnt that the initial investors were also responsible for convincing a significant number of the victims whose money had yet to be recovered.

Onigbinde, who operated the business without the necessary licenses, was however, tracked and arrested by detectives led by the Area Commander, Area ‘F’, ACP Akinbayo Olasoji, through his identified wife, who was said to have threatened to run to America with their only child when she discovered the husband’s illegal dealings.

Detectives had tracked his wife’s phone number after several petitions from his victims.

Elkana statement reads: “The command is investigating an alleged case of fraud, cheating, money laundering, obtaining of N574,251,261,01 by false pretences through a Ponzi scheme by Tosin Onigbinde and three others, Adeyanju Tijani, Olumuyiwa Adebayo and Adewemimo Onigbinde.

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“Investigation so far has revealed that Tosin Onigbinde collected a total sum of N574,251,261,01, from 354 individuals, from which he claimed to have paid principal and interest to the tune of N482,311.350,89, leaving an outstanding sum of N233,454,755,76.

“He collected this money from these individuals with a promise of extraordinary gains to those willing to invest in the scheme/investment, which he claimed was built on lucrative trading in forex trading, Bitcoin and shares purchase from four international brokers.

“This get-rich-quick scheme attracted gullible and greedy investors, who received the expected high returns, as he simply paid these investors who received the expected high returns, as Seye Onigbinde paid them from later investors. The more investors his scheme attracted, he created a business and used agents to find more and more investors.

“Investigation is ongoing and the Area ‘F’ of the command arraigned him in court and got a remand order for 21 days to enable other members of the public, whose names featured in the scheme, to approach the Human Rights Unit of the Area ‘F’ Command before final arraignment at the Lagos State High Court after the DPP advice.”

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