The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Dr Emomotimi Agama, has said that the Commission cannot recover the N1.3tn reportedly lost by Nigerians to the now-defunct Crypto Bridge Exchange, also known as CBEX.
The unregistered digital platform, which operated under the name ST Technologies International Ltd, allegedly vanished last Monday with the funds of about 600,000 Nigerian investors. CBEX had lured victims with the promise of 100 per cent return on investment within 30 days.
Speaking to journalists, Agama said the Commission was unable to assist the victims in recovering their funds because the platform was never registered with the SEC.
“There is nothing the Commission can do,” he said. “We are worried that this went on for long without anyone drawing our attention to it. That is why we are doing more enlightenment and asking people to come forward to report these things early.”
He warned Nigerians against investing in schemes that promise unrealistic returns, noting that such characteristics often signal a Ponzi scheme.
“You can identify a Ponzi scheme when an entity makes offers that are clearly bogus and unattainable. The ISA 2025 defines this,” he added.
The SEC revealed that preliminary investigations showed that CBEX created a false sense of legitimacy through aggressive promotions, attracting unsuspecting members of the public with promises of implausibly high returns.
The Commission stated that neither CBEX nor its affiliates had ever been registered to operate as a digital asset exchange or solicit public investments.
“Pursuant to Section 196 of the ISA 2025, the Commission will work with relevant law enforcement agencies to take enforcement actions against CBEX, its promoters and affiliates,” the SEC said in a statement.
The regulator also advised Nigerians to verify the registration status of any investment platform via its website before committing funds.
A victim, an Abuja-based journalist, recounted how he lost N500,000 to the scheme after being persuaded by a friend.
“I invested on April 4 with the hope of getting N1m in 30 days. A week later, I was locked out of the Telegram group. I tried to withdraw my funds, which had risen to N616,000, but it was too late,” he said.
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