Pascal Oparada
Many who invested in the Ponzi scheme, Imagine Global (IMG), operated by ex-Zenith Bank staffer, Bamise Ajetunmobi and wife, Elizabeth, are coming together to track and possibly, recover their investments from the runaway couple.
Screenshots of WhatsApp chats seen by this newspaper are being shared on social media by many who invested millions into the Ponzi scheme and now want to have their monies back.
In some of the chats, couples told how they were lured into the scheme and invested millions, some close to N100 million.
In another chat, a frustrated woman whose husband allegedly invested over N90 million asked how they could become part of the group.
Links to the WhatsApp group is being shared online for victims to join in an effort to track the elusive promoters of Imagine Gold.
In another heartbreaking account, a woman, who said her husband invested almost N30 million, said he did so because Ajetunmobi was his junior colleague while they worked at Zenith Bank.
Tales of individuals, companies and even religious organisations, investing in the scheme reverberated when the couple absconded with over N22 billion of investors’ money.
Piggyvest, an online savings platform, is said to have invested about N2 billion in the scheme.
Penultimate week, Piggyvest investors became jittery when news of their alleged involvement with Imagine Global went viral, prompting the company to issue a statement, telling investors that their funds are safe.
The company refuted claims that they invested in the Ponzi scheme.
“Please, ignore any news about PiggyVest, losing customer funds to IMG,” the statement reads.
“No PiggyVest customer funds are in “IMG”. Customer funds are only invested in asset-backed instruments like commercial papers, bonds, fixed income notes, etc.
“With over N250 billion returned successfully to customers, Piggyvest has never and will never compromise the funds of any customer in any way. All Piggyvest customer funds remain safe and secure as always,” the company said.
According to a WhatsApp chat shared by some of the investors, the couple has been tracked to the UK.
In the message, the couple allegedly bought school uniforms for their children with Ajetunmobi’s bank card. The Nigerian Xpress cannot independently verify the claim.
Meanwhile, the Antigua parliament has said they are on the lookout for the Nigerian couple that bought citizenship of their country.
In a plenary, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said their citizenship is not for fraudsters and that they would be repatriated to Nigeria immediately after they are seen in the country.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has responded to reports that a Nigerian couple on the run for swindling thousands of investors to the tune of 22 billion Naira, had obtained citizenship from Antigua and Barbuda.
While in Parliament on October 20, Browne said he is yet to verify this, adding that the alleged fraudsters – Bamise and Elizabeth Ajetunmobi — would be captured if they enter the country.
He said that he heard “that he and his wife obtained Antiguan and Barbudan passports, citizenship under the CIP programme and now that person is now wanted for defrauding a number of Nigerians.”
“I have already put systems in place to ensure that if he is not here as yet that they could capture him on his way here because Antigua and Barbuda is not gonna be a refuge for scamps,” he stated.
Browne reiterated that the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) is not meant to attract criminals, saying “our CIP programme is designed to attract and to incentivise investments, not to be a safe haven for crooks.
“This government will continue to do all in its power to ensure that those who violate laws and they seek refuge here that eventually are repatriated from whence they came. It’s just a matter of time. Some of them may get temporary refuge here but we have no doubt that ultimately, they will be repatriated.”
Antigua and Barbuda passports of the couple and their minor children surfaced online, hours after reports emerged that they had fled Nigeria after their Ponzi scheme collapsed, leaving thousands of investors stranded.
The passports also showed that the couple had planned their disappearance months in advance to avoid suspicion amongst investors. Data entries on their passports showed that Mr Ajetunmobi and one of their minor children procured their passports on the same day, April 29, 2021. Mrs Ajetunmobi procured hers a few days later on May 4, 2021. The couple was only detected to have fled Nigeria in early October.
It was not immediately clear how the passports surfaced online, but Jackson Ude, a journalist, appeared to be the first to post them on Twitter.
Antigua and Barbuda have become one of the main Caribbean nations, offering passports to fleeing Nigerian fraud suspects.
The countries offer different layers of passports for sale at prices that range from moderate to exorbitant, selling between $38,000 to $261,000 at St Lucia, Commonwealth of Dominica, Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, amongst other islands nestled off the scenic Atlantic coast.
Imagine Global, which was registered in 2017, stated on its website that it has a customer base of 90,000 Nigerians, but it was unclear how many of them were able to recoup their investments before the couple disappeared with billions. The couple reportedly fled to London, where a branch of Imagine Global was incorporated in August 2019.
A spokesman for Zuriel Consulting Limited, Imagine Global’s legal adviser, said the law firm could not comment on investors’ funds and the disappearance of the couple, adding that it neither denies nor confirms claims that the amount squandered was up to N22 billion.
