Blueprint Consulting has denied its involvement in a scheme organised by one of its partners, Blueprint Business Development and Consulting, through which 354 forex trade investors were defrauded of N574.2 million.
Seye Onigbinde, an ex-banker, and partner at Blueprint Consulting had earned N574.2 million from the scheme.
Onigbinde reportedly established Blueprint Business Development and Consulting for his personal dealings. Some of the investors, who took part in the scheme, did so with the hope of getting massive financial returns after Onigbinde promised them a monthly interest of 20 to 30%.
Blueprint denies involvement: Blueprint Consulting said the company wasn’t dealing in foreign exchange or any other related services, as the company was solely registered as an accounting service, training, tax advisory, and business support services with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
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Managing Partner, Blueprint Consulting, Tijani Adeyanju, said the foreign exchange operated by Onigbinde was done in his (Onigbinde) personal capacity and not for Blueprint Consulting.
“By trading in foreign exchange, Seye Onigbinde breached the provisions of the object clause of the company as registered with the CAC.
“If any paraphilia of the company was used by Onigbinde, he did it illegally without the consent and or authority of the other partners of the company.
“We use this opportunity to indicate the readiness of Blueprint Consulting to indicate our availability to cooperate with the security agencies in their investigations of the allegations levied against Onigbinde.”
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Police take charge of fraud case: Onigbinde, as stated, made use of a business venture named Blueprint Business Development and Consulting to run the scheme, grossing about N574.2 million. According to the Police, Area F Command, Ikeja, Lagos, Onigbinde claimed to have paid principal and interest to the tune of N482.3 million, remaining an outstanding of N233.4 million.
False prophets everywhere: Nigerians have constantly been warned about ‘false prophets’ in the investment market who promise of a large return on investment. The acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mary Uduk, had warned against unrealistic investment gains claims. Uduak stated that Nigerians must be on guard as regards unregistered financial firms that swindle people with false claims. Her statement is in relation to several Ponzi schemes that have made their way into Nigeria with claims of doubling people’s investment within a short period of time.
