I think MMM has swallowed my money, participant cries out

An MMM participant said she thinks the money she invested in Nigeria's number one Ponzi scheme is stuck

- Dolapo said her personal MMM office tells her she has exceeded her daily limit

- She however said that her Mavro has continued to grow since she was shut out of cashing her money

An MMM participant said she think the money she invested is stuck

An MMM participant has said she is scared her money might have been swallowed up or trapped in the scheme.

The participant who simply referred to herself as Dolapo said she provided help before the scheme was frozen and was expecting to get help immediately the suspension was lifted off the Ponzi scheme.

However, worried about the feasibility of getting her money, Dolapo said she thinks she might have lost the N50,000 she invested into the scheme.

Dolapo said her MMM personal office keeps telling her that she has exceeded her limit.

“I had requested for help, I was patently waiting to cash my money and after three days they now the request I made is gone and I am being told me that I have exceeded my allowed daily maximum,” Dolapo said.

“They should not give me hope and take away the hope ooo!” Dolapo lamented.

She however said that her Mavro which had stopped growing after she requested to get help has now continued to grow.

“My Mavro had stopped growing when I requested to get help, but all of a sudden it is growing now, this means that until they approve that up to that amount can be withdrawn my money is stuck,” she cried.

A screenshot of Dolapo's personal MMM office

But another Abuja based lady Seun told NAIJ.com that she requested to get help, but is yet to be merged with people who would pay her.

She said: “It’s been over three days I requested for help and no one has sent me money.”

"I haven’t even been merged," she added.

Seun who invested N50,000 before the scheme was frozen said her Mavro has since been growing.

“I provided help of N50,000, was supposed to get help of N65,000 back but I noticed my Mavro grew to N78,000 since December.

But another thing I noticed was that my Mavro stop growing after I asked for help.”

Seun said she started investing in MMM since July 2016 and has enjoyed the system and its benefits since then.

Another investor Chukwuma said he is waiting to be paid too.

“They said we should wait patiently, so I am waiting,” Chukwuma said.

It is just a simply thing the system just came back after one month of its suspension, there will be hitches and difficulties but things will get better.

The promoters of the scheme had said the poor people (those with lower investments) will be paid first before the rich (individuals with higher investments).

Bailing out?

Despite the hitches experienced by the scheme, Chukwuma said he will be willing to invest more into MMM once he has received help.

“Once I get help, I will apply to provide help immediately, we need to understand that MMM has come to stay and had been helping man since this recession,” Chukwuma added.

However, contrary to Chukwuma’s believe, some individuals believe Nigerians are just being gullible.

A barrister who spoke to NAIJ.com said: “It is a crazy that some people will fall for this MMM thing for a second time.”

The barrister who spoke under anonymity said schemes like MMM have a way of gaining peoples trust and then leaving people devastated and depressed.

The barrister said: “When you go back to read the history of the people who started this thing, they are Russians and have been known to scam people. I still find it hard to believe that even people who are educated have fallen for the scheme and their come back. This is really funny.”

MMM – Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox - now referred to Nigeria’s number one Ponzi scheme was invented by Sergey Mavordi, a Russian criminal and former deputy of the state Duma.

Mavrodi is known to have taken his pyramid scheme to various countries including Russia, his home country, Zimbabwe (where accounts were frozen in September 2016) and then in Nigeria where accounts were frozen in December 2016.

In Nigeria, MMM promised participants it will make a comeback on January 14, stating that the suspension was temporary.

Surprisingly and to the shock of many, the scheme resumed operation on January 13, 24 hours before its proposed comeback.

Since then, NAIJ.com cannot authoritatively confirm that any of the participants have been paid.

Also, the federal government through its several agencies has cautioned Nigerians on participating in the scheme.

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its warning said the activities of the scheme are not regulated.

The commission also said it will continue to enlighten capital market investors in Nigeria.