On Tuesday morning, the news of the freezing of MMM accounts brought instant shock to a lot of people, and some others on the brink of depression. Those who were expecting to get payment especially in the yuletide season have been thrown into confusion and despair as the scheme’s website threw them a curved ball. They were told that their accounts have been ‘frozen’ with a promise that it will become active in a month’s time. There is palpable fear, however, that the one month return date set by the operators of the scheme may not be.
MMM stands for Mavrodi Mondial Movement, a money scheme that many experts including the formal banks, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Econonmic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have labeled a scam and a Ponzi Scheme.
With some 3.3 million participants, it is estimated that an average of Three Trillion Naira may have been trapped in the scheme, and the hope of this huge sum currently hanging in several shadow accounts of the MMM members being recouped appears slim.
Is MMM really a scam?
Opinions are divided on this. Whereas several financial experts and the institutions had warned that the scheme was any safety net for the money circulating among participants to be secured, MMM and its subscribers have continued to insist that there was nothing to worry about. Except for the participants who are still hanging on hopes, even MMM had put a caveat which safely insulated it from any liability.
Despite all the warnings from government and even MMM itself, many Nigerians had decided to make the scheme a primary investment choice. On the MMM website there are enough warnings to any intending subscribers that whatever became of their monies was totally their own cross that they must have to carry. The MMM had warned that it doesn’t keep subscribers monies even as it advised anyone participating in the scheme not too put in too much money at the initial stage. Opening the MMM website, one of the first words that pop up are, “It is possible to get 30% per month here, but this is not an investment program.” Yet many have seen the scheme as an investment opportunity and have put in their life savings in it.
Further in the MMM website, you read inter alia: “We suggest you to participate with a small sum at the beginning, not critical for You, and go through the full process. From registration until you get the money. And so You will understand everything and all doubts will disappear.
“There is no central account in MMM, to collect all the money of participants (and from where they could be stolen easily). All the money transfers are made directly between participants.
“It means that everything is quite clear and honest. MMM plays just a role as some kind of a dispatch, which connect the participants.”
“It means that everything is quite clear and honest. MMM plays just a role as some kind of a dispatch, which connect the participants.”
However, when the news of the Freeze came this week, it was not surprising that many were reported to have lost everything they had. Mostly affected are those who have invested millions into the scheme and are only waiting to get their return.
A respondent who spoke to Independent said that he was afraid for a friend who had recently put N4.5million into the scheme. He reported that he had been calling the phone of his friend since Tuesday when the MMM crisis occurred but got no response from him, expressing fear that he might hurt himself. “He has been low since he heard about the freeze. He just paid N4.5m as help to someone. I called him last night and he was sounding low. I went to his house and he is not there. I have been calling him since this morning and the phone is ringing. I am really afraid for him.”
Many other such reports have been reported while people share their experience on social media. To make matters worse, those who did not take part in the scheme have been taunting MMM subscribers online calling them names like ‘greedy’ and ‘thief’. All these adds to the frustration of losing money.
Another story that went round after the ‘Freeze’ was that of a Chidinma Unigwe, an intending groom who is reportedly battling for his life after drinking insecticide in Otukpo, Benue State, following the MMM fiasco.
The report, which appeared on Daily Post, says Unigwe, who hails from Ai Okpe in Okpokwu LGA had fixed his wedding for December 28, 2016. He had earlier invested N300, 000 into the scheme last month and was expecting to get his 30 per cent income in preparation for his wedding before the latest development. According to Daily Post, Unigwe literally went mad on hearing the news of the freeze and drank the Raid insecticide.
Also, an elderly man slumped and died at a bank in Warri, Delta State after he was told that the Ponzi scheme has suspended operation and would not be able to cash some N1.5million that he had in the account, report a Nigerian daily.
Several others persons were reportedly wounded in a stampede at various banks in Warri, Delta State, after the promoters of the popular Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox (MMM) suspended the accounts of about 3.3 million Nigerian participants.
It was learnt that the participants in the Ponzi scheme, who heard about the announcement on Tuesday, rushed to their banks to verify. Investigation shows that in one of the very busy banks in Warri metropolis, where the elderly man slumped and died, two other persons also slumped in the same manner, but were luckier as they were quickly revived by sympathisers. Scores of others sustained serious injuries as they rushed to get their hard earn money.
Bank officials refused to speak on the issue.
Meanwhile, bandits were cashing in on the confusion and rowdy situation to extort money and rob customers who have continued to besiege banks in Warri.
The situation has become so frightening in Lagos that the state’s emergency response agency has asked people to watch over their relatives and neighbours, while calling on them to report anyone whom they might notice to be acting funny or feeling depressed over the MMM freeze and want to harm themselves. The Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA) gave the advice after a twitter user cautioned that suicide rates might increase in Lagos, due to the fact that MMM Nigeria has frozen its members’ account for one month.
LASEMA’s response reads, “Please report anyone who you see (about to commit suicide) in your area. Lagos cares.”
Despite all the fears, MMM site did not say the Freeze was a total crash of the scheme. They even issued a statement which has given some hope to participants that they might still get their investments back. The Freeze notice says; “Dear members, As usual, in the New Year season, the system is experiencing heavy workload. Moreover, it has to deal with the constant frenzy provoked by the authorities and the mass media. The things are still going well, the participants feel calm, everyone gets paid.” The promoters of MMM also say the scheme will be back in January.
Many supervisors or ‘Guiders’ as they call them have also been trying to calm their members down, assuring them that the whole scheme is not over. Yemi, a Guider says this to his members via a social media application;
“Top of the day to you. I know we have read or heard on the news section that was captioned One-Month Freezing of confirmed Mavros. Yes, you may have heard about system upgrades and little tweaks here and there to improve the system, fix fake Pops and correct issues with failed confirmations. Support needs time and our cooperation to have this done once and for all.
“Yes, some of us definitely will have good use for the monies they want to GH, I can’t say I understand what you are going through, but be rest assured, your Mavros are still safe. As for me and my household, as long as God gives us life, we would stand strong and continue to believe that through the course of the months since we joined MMM, we have and will continue to remain steadfast to the ideologies of MMM.”
Nigerians have been less than sympathetic to the plight of the MMM participants. The social media has been awash with harsh words, taunting them as a bunch of greedy people and calling them all sorts of names.
That being said, experts say the freeze is the end of MMM in Nigeria and the scheme can never gain traction like it once did. They also say that the monies lost to the scheme can never be regained while anyone who puts in fresh funds into the scheme will only lose their funds and never gain them back.
Stephen Mordi, financial analyst in Lagos believes that the freeze is just a precursor to the eventual collapse of the scheme. He says the MMM can only survive when there are new funds and with the current backlash, it will be difficult for anyone to put their hard earned money into it at the moment.
He says, “Without constant injection of new capital, the scheme will naturally crash eventually because it pays returns to its ‘investors’ from new capital paid to the operators by new investors, rather than from profit earned through legitimate sources; and my bet is that the negative publicity that the scheme has been receiving recently has had a significant impact on the inflow of new ‘investors’ to the scheme, hence the possible crash.”
Reiterating Mordi’s view is his partner, Angela Orokie who is also a financial analyst. She says the system has grounded to a halt and cannot be revived anymore. She also explained that it will be a tall order for the scheme to pay back lost funds.
“MMM survives by not just new funds but from larger funds. When someone puts in money, they will get 30 percent of the money. Where does that 30 percent come from? It is simple, the money coming in needs to be greater than what is already in the system, that is why it is sustainable. But that has a limit. Now that there is over a Billion Naira stuck in the scheme, they will need people to fund that for it to continue rolling. I don’t think people can shell that kind of money anymore for the scheme,” says Okorie.
Mr Aina Genusa, also an accountant in Lagos confirms that MMM has seen its last days in Nigeria. He says, that schemes like these are not sustainable. “It reaches saturation at some point. Then the number of people waiting to receive money (GH) becomes more than those ready to pay money (PH). Money coming from PH is no longer enough to pay GH. This is when you start experiencing slow down in payments. It creates a backlog of GH that are not paid. This creates panic and new entrants (potential PH) are discouraged, and the number of PH ready to pay money gets smaller and smaller by the day, while the number of GH waiting to receive money gets larger and larger by the day.
“So has MMM crashed? Yes it has. Why? Because they now have a backlog of unpaid money. Where will money come from to pay these GH? It will come from new entrants (PH). But how many people are ready to make new investment in MMM? There is panic. Even the most optimistic members on GH are waiting to receive what they already put in and disappear or invest less. But it is a wait in vain because it will be money from new entrants that will be used to pay them. Who wants to pay money to MMM now?” Genusa asks.
To compound issues, The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said they will not be doing anything about the crash. They say there have been enough warnings on the scheme already.
The EFCC reacted to the freeze on Tuesday, December 13 just hours after reports began to emerge that the freeze could mean the beginning of the end of the scheme in Nigeria. The anti-corruption agency said on its official Twitter handle that there was nothing it could do if indeed the scheme had failed entirely.
It noted that Nigerians had been warned about the scheme in advance and so there was nothing that it could do. Besides, it noted, there were more important corruption matters for it to face than MMM freeze.
MMM subscribers we spoke with had diverse view of the situation. There were however more who still feel optimistic that the scheme will return than those who believe that they have been swindled and will never get their money anymore.
“MMM will come back and those laughing now will be the one in shame,” says Joyce, a hairdresser in Ikosi, Ketu. “I know by January, they will start paying us and I will continue to put money in it,” she says.
Another MMM partaker, Kunle Alebioshu also believes that MMM will return as promised by the scheme. “I have N120,000 in MMM and I am not afraid at all. They said we should give them one month, that is no problem, we will wait,” Alebioshu says.
A more realistic member, Okafor Chidi says he knew the day will come that MMM will pack up but he never thought it would be this soon. “I know they will soon go but I did not know it will come soon. I just put in N50,000 though I have made over N38,000 in profit in the past.” When asked if he thinks MMM will return in January as promised he said, “Return for where. They are gone. They only say one month so that they can have plenty time to clean up all the money they have made. In one month’s time, we will not see a trace of MMM anymore.”
As it is, it is not clear if MMM will ever come back, but it is clear it is a Ponzi scheme. If history is to be followed, Ponzi schemes hardly recovers after such a long break. Nigerians should count their losses and be wiser in future.
