Nigerians participating in the MMM Global Scheme have been once again served another warning as the scheme has collapsed in Zimbabwe leaving several stranded and losses several thousands of dollars after the scheme abruptly shut down. The worst hit by this shutdown were vendors and civil servants who work hard to scrape some living for themselves.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe warned people that the scheme was fraudulent and there was no legal recourse in the event they lost their money. However, Zimbabweans continued flocking into the scheme in their plenty as a result of the get rich quick nature of the scheme.
Some of the victims were quoted by Breaking times as being distraught. “When we started putting our funds in the scheme one could get assistance within seven days but things later changed to 14 days and when we were shut out the waiting period was 21 days. What it simply means is that the number of people in need of help has outnumbered the number of people joining. Right now we have nowhere to get our money which we invested.”
Another victim, Mrs Rosemary Mawonde said: “We never thought the scheme would end this way as we believed that by using EcoCash to do the transactions, things were in order. I am surprised that EcoCash is also distancing itself from the scheme and it is clear that I will never recover the $300 that I invested.”
Some victims were said to have poured out thousands of dollars anticipating higher returns. Just like the SEC, the RBZ warned that the scheme ‘paid money not from genuine market investment of their funds, but from contributions made by new investors, until a point when the scheme can no longer attract new investors’.
Parts of this article originally appeared in Breaking Times