In this follow-up investigation, IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI examines the stalled refund efforts of some of the over 4,000 Nigerians who lost their hard-earned money to the collapsed EMAAR Ponzi scheme. With nearly N3bn believed to have gone down the drain, the report interrogates how Ponzi operators continue to exploit weak regulatory oversight, poorly monitored digital channels and systemic loopholes to defraud unsuspecting victims

For weeks now, customer-care lines of Moniepoint Microfinance Bank and Kuda Bank have come under sustained pressure from angry Nigerians demanding refunds of money lost to a collapsed Ponzi scheme operating under the name EMAAR.

From Abuja to Kaduna, Plateau to Oyo, victims say they have written petitions with screenshots and transfer receipts, insisting that the fintech platforms through which the funds moved must help them recover their losses.

Some of the victims insist they are not accusing the banks of running the scheme, but argue that the platforms enabled the transactions and must therefore play a role in tracing the operators and facilitating refunds.

At the centre of the controversy is EMAAR, a fraudulent investment platform that surfaced months after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission warned Nigerians against 58 unregistered investment schemes.

By the time EMAAR collapsed abruptly in October 2025, more than 4,000 Nigerians had reportedly invested varying sums, lured by promises of triple returns on so-called virtual real estate projects.

For the victims, the pain is not just financial. It is emotional, psychological and, for many, existential.

‘It all ended in tears’

In Abuja, a hairstylist, Ngozi Uchedike, still struggles to come to terms with how she lost N560,000 —money she had saved over months of painstaking work.

“I made the payments in three tranches through a colleague who introduced me to EMAAR,” she said, her voice heavy with regret.

“I first paid N150,000 on October 16 to a Moniepoint account belonging to the EMAAR operators, Creditb-24h. Two days later, I transferred a total of N410,000 to two Kuda accounts belonging to the suspected operators, identified as Shehu Bala Maryam and Muhammad Umar.”

Uchedike said the colleague, who introduced her to the scheme, told her that the operators were foreign investors from the United States involved in building construction.

To be sure, she said she did her own checks.

“I Googled the name and found that EMAAR is indeed a real estate and property development company,” she recalled, referring to the globally known Dubai-based property giant.

“That made me believe it was legitimate. That was why I invested my money. But it all ended in tears.”

Since the platform crashed, she said she had written petitions to the police and contacted both banks through which she made the transfers.

According to her, the response was always the same.

“They said I need a court order before anything can be done. How do I get a court order when I don’t even know where these people are?” she asked.

For Uchedike and hundreds like her, the insistence on court orders has become a major source of anger.

Many say they feel trapped in a system that protects institutions and fraudsters, while leaving victims stranded.

‘Nothing has come from them’

Jonathan, a Plateau State-based victim, said he invested N212,000 in the scheme, transferring the funds to a Moniepoint account.

Months later, he has not recovered a single naira.

“As we speak, nothing has come from them,” he lamented. “I made the transfer to their Moniepoint account, and that was it.”

He said he had not aggressively pressured the bank, partly because of past experiences.

“You know the Nigerian system,” he said. “In the past, we have made efforts like that, but at the end of the day, nothing came out of the whole thing. Many people in my neighbourhood also invested. Some people still believe all hope is not lost, so we are still expecting.”

In Kaduna, Sylvester, another victim, said he lost N120,000 after transferring funds to a Kuda account linked to the EMAAR operators.

Like many others, he said the lack of traceable details had frustrated all efforts at recovery.

“There has been no link to any of the EMAAR group members since the whole thing collapsed,” he said.

“No phone number, no physical address, nothing. There is no way to even launch a legal case against them.”

This absence of identifiable operators has deepened the anger directed at the banks.

Victims argue that if fintech platforms can easily onboard customers and create virtual accounts, they should also be able to trace and freeze fraudulent accounts before funds disappear.

A warning ignored, a scheme reborn

In March 2025, the EFCC issued a public alert naming 58 companies masquerading as legitimate investment entities.

According to the anti-graft agency, none of the companies was registered with the Central Bank of Nigeria or the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The EFCC said several of the companies had been prosecuted, with five convictions secured, and assured Nigerians of its vigilance.

Yet, less than three months later, EMAAR surfaced.

Operating under the guise of a real estate investment company, EMAAR promised investors triple returns within a short period.

Participants were encouraged to “buy” virtual projects with defined timelines, projected profits and daily income summaries.

For many Nigerians battered by inflation, job losses and currency instability, the offer was irresistible.

By late October, the platform went offline. Accounts were wiped. Telegram channels went silent. The operators vanished.

A life turned upside down

Among the hardest hit is Philip Abila, a former computer centre operator in Kaduna who is now struggling to survive as a schoolteacher.

Abila said he invested over N5m in EMAAR—money he raised through loans, salary advances and the sale of his business assets.

“I borrowed from Okash, Direct Credit, Branch, Palmpay, and even took a salary advance from my bank,” he said. “I was hoping to repay everything once the investment matured.”

Days before the platform crashed, Abila said he attempted to withdraw over N2m from his account and N500,000 from his wife’s account. None was paid.

“They disappeared. None was paid,” he said quietly.

In a desperate bid to increase his expected returns after early projects yielded little, Abila said he sold two large generators from his computer business.

When the platform finally collapsed, he was left with nothing.

Today, he is servicing debts of about N717,000, a crushing burden on his modest teacher’s salary. Some of the loans, he said, still attract daily interest.

“That same week I planned to start withdrawing, nothing came in,” he said. “Accounts were deleted the same day the platform went offline.”

Even trusted figures were not spared.

“My pastor was involved too,” Abila said. “Later, he said God revealed it would not last, but we were carried away by the profits.”

Too real to doubt

To victims like Abila, EMAAR did not look like a scam.

According to him, the platform appeared sophisticated and professional.

Users registered through referral links, deposited funds and selected projects that displayed timelines, expected returns and detailed income summaries.

“Everything looked real,” he said.

To further reinforce trust, the operators circulated what they claimed were Corporate Affairs Commission certificates through the official Telegram channel.

They also alleged partnerships with commercial banks and hinted at government approval.

“Tutorials and guidance were regularly provided,” Abila recalled. “Honestly, anyone would think it was legitimate.”

Preliminary estimates suggest that losses from the scheme could range between N1bn and N3bn, depending on early withdrawals. Individual investments ranged from N120,000 to nearly N5m, though most participants invested smaller amounts.

Why Ponzi schemes keep thriving

A cybersecurity researcher at King’s College London, Jerahmeel Madumere, said the persistence of Ponzi schemes in Nigeria cannot be explained by greed alone.

“Nigeria’s highly entrepreneurial culture, combined with inflation, currency volatility and limited access to formal investment channels, has created a population constantly searching for alternative income streams,” he explained.

According to him, Ponzi operators exploit this reality by presenting their schemes as low-risk, time-sensitive opportunities rather than long-term investments.

“The issue is not greed,” he stressed, “but economic insecurity combined with limited legitimate pathways for wealth creation.”

Madumere also pointed to low financial and digital literacy as a major enabler.He said many Nigerians struggle to distinguish between licensed investment products and unregulated schemes, especially when fraudsters use professional branding and real estate narratives.

“Operators use the names of reputable foreign firms like Emaar Properties in Dubai to appear legitimate,” he said. “Since there is no automated cross-border registry check, a Nigerian ‘EMAAR’ can exist online for weeks before regulators notice.”

Social media as a trust machine

According to Madumere, social media has become a powerful trust amplifier for Ponzi schemes. Influencers, religious figures and community leaders often, knowingly or unknowingly, lend credibility to fraudulent platforms.

“Their endorsements, whether paid or based on personal participation, create urgency and social proof,” he said. “By the time regulators intervene, thousands have already been convinced.”

He also criticised Nigeria’s regulatory framework, describing enforcement as largely reactive.

Oversight, he said, is fragmented across agencies, none of which has real-time visibility across corporate registration, payment systems and online promotion.

“This grey zone allows Ponzi schemes to scale rapidly before detection,” he warned.

The fintech factor

Madumere raised concerns about the growing use of microfinance banks and fintech platforms by scammers.

According to him, some institutions may be indirectly aiding fraud through weak identity controls and virtual account proliferation.

“Scammers can generate thousands of virtual accounts via a microfinance bank’s API,” he explained.

“To a regulator, it looks like thousands of small peer-to-peer transfers rather than one massive fraud pool.”

While major commercial banks have robust anti-money laundering systems, he said some smaller institutions rely on manual or less sophisticated monitoring.

“They may not flag a sudden spike in N5,000 to N50,000 deposits until it is too late,” he said.

‘Buy one, get one free’

Another cybersecurity expert, Obaro Irikeghe, said Ponzi schemes thrive on predictable human psychology.

“It is the same pattern that always works: buy one, get one free,” he said. “Nigerians are easily drawn to abnormal returns.”

He likened Ponzi schemes to betting platforms that promise quick rewards with little effort, noting that poverty and economic pressure heighten vulnerability.

“The rich hardly get into it,” he said. “Each time the same pattern is used, it works, irrespective of the name.”

Irikeghe also blamed low digital literacy and weak public sensitisation, arguing that many Nigerians do not understand basic online safety practices.

“You don’t wait until your house is robbed before installing security,” he said. “You put the measures in place first.”

No loopholes, just desperation?

However, a fintech expert and Chief Executive Officer of XchangeBox, Abiola Jimoh, argued that desperation, not policy loopholes, is the real driver of Ponzi schemes.

“We have citizens who are desperate to make extra cash from anywhere,” he said, pointing to the rising cost of living.

Jimoh said regulatory announcements often come after platforms have collapsed, describing oversight as reactive.

Still, he argued that completely stopping Ponzi schemes would be difficult, as operators are often dispersed and anonymous.

Chasing promoters, chasing banks

Sunday PUNCH contacted one of the alleged promoters of EMAAR on Facebook, Izuchukwu Ogochukwu.

She declined to comment, saying only, “I am not into it again.”

In September, Ogochukwu had shared EMAAR links on a Facebook group titled How To Make Money Online, describing the platform as a CAC-registered real estate company.

Victims like the Ibadan computer engineer, who lost over N1.8m, say they are not giving up.

“I have been engaging the banks daily for over a month,” he said.

“I have involved the EFCC, the CBN and NIBSS. I believe they are working on it.”

As anger mounts, Moniepoint and Kuda remain at the centre of victims’ demands.

Earlier this month, when the first part of this report was published, Moniepoint’s spokesperson, Bemigho Awala, told Sunday PUNCH that fraud victims would need to formally notify their banks and the police, and also obtain a court order, before any remedial action could be taken.

An official of the bank also told our correspondent, on the condition of anonymity, that the Moniepoint account used by the fraudsters had been deactivated after it was flagged for facilitating a Ponzi scheme.

The official added that most reported cases were being refunded, provided the complaints were backed by a court order.

However, none of the victims who spoke to our correspondent said they had received any refund, despite making several official complaints to their banks as demanded.

Sunday PUNCH reached out again to Awala to obtain updates on the refunds and the investigation into the deactivated account.

But efforts proved unsuccessful, as he had yet to respond to messages sent to his telephone line as of the time of filing this report.

Similarly, Kuda’s Public Relations Specialist, Blossom Deji-Folutile, had yet to respond to messages sent to her via WhatsApp since Wednesday.

Meanwhile, EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, said he could not immediately confirm whether petitions had been received from the victims, citing the volume of complaints that reach the anti-graft agency daily.

He explained that petitions submitted to the commission were usually subjected to thorough scrutiny by a committee to verify their facts and substance before any official announcement would be made.

“It is too early for me to know because of the volume of petitions that come in. You will have to check back in a week or two. By then, I will be able to give an update on the matter,” he said. (PUNCH)

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