“Thank God, I thought I have lost all,” these are the words of Olusegun Adekiitan, a middle-aged telephone operator, when he heard the news. Adekiitan is one of the gullible investors, who subscribed to the bursary package of Confederation of African Philanthropists, CAP. What excited him was the fact that Fidelity Bank has assured all CAP customers who subscribed to the package through the bank that their initial deposit would be refunded.
This development comes as a pleasant surprise for over 2,000 customers of CAP who paid through Fidelity Bank, as they had given up everything as lost. “Though the money is small but it is something. Most of us gather in front of their office in Abule Egba area along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway to bemoan our investment in the organisation. But the management of the bank brought succour to us and we are very delighted,” Adekiitan said.
Seun Abiodun, another investor, was also excited by the news. According to him, his wife and six neighbours he introduced to the scheme had been on his neck since the organisation closed its doors. “They have declared war against me for the past three weeks the problem started. But I believe with the commitment of Fidelity Bank, I can now heave a sigh of relief at home. At least they will be reassured that I did not swindle them,” he told the magazine.
Emma Esinnah, group head, marketing and communications, Fidelity Bank, who disclosed that depositors should approach the bank for their funds emphasised that the bank was only committed to the customers that subscribed to the scheme through the bank. The implication is that the multitude of CAP customers, who subscribed to the scheme through Cedar Bridge Microfinance Bank, MFB, are on their own.
According to him, CAP approached the bank to open a corporate account where its customers are expected to deposit N2,500 each after which the bank will pay each customer N10,000 at the end of every month. “But when the management of CAP failed to complete the account opening process, which includes full disclosure of the company’s business, we realised the organisation wanted to ride on the goodwill of our bank to swindle innocent Nigerians. At this point, we stopped the process and decided to open an account for each of the customers it directed to us,” Esinnah told the magazine. The Fidelity Bank spokesperson added that the financial institution had reported the case to the Nigerian Financial Intelligent Unit, an anti-fraud arm of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC
Before the closure of the organisation two weeks ago, Loveth King, a staff of CAP, claimed that the essence of bringing in Fidelity Bank was to serve the depositors better. “We realised more people were coming to be empowered and we needed to get a bigger bank to take the deposits. We know that most Nigerians are poor and this is our own way of reducing poverty level in the country. We have done it for several years in South Africa and Ghana among other countries. Our mission is to empower people in order to cater for themselves,” she told the magazine.
CAP offered two main products which are CAP Partners and Bursary Package Scheme. While investors interested in the CAP partners account are expected to pay a sum of N25,000 into the Cedar Bridge MFB and rec receive a loan of N1 million after a month, others interested in the bursary scheme paid a deposit of N2,500 into either the MFB or Fidelity Bank account only to get a bonus of N10,000 every month.
Several cases of default had been established against CAP before it finally closed shop. Last December, Yemisi Oduloye, a student of Lagos State University, Ojo, deposited N2,500, but up till last week, she had not received any returns. “They told me that my name does not even exist in the register of the company’s depositors as my sponsor through whom I made the deposit did not remit the money to the company,” Oduloye laments. And now the sponsor is at large. In a similar circumstance, Bayo Okegbenro, an auto mechanic, who was apparently carried away by the sweet sounding offers, not only placed N2,500 in the bursary product but equally sponsored seven of his friends two months ago. Thereafter, he received a bonus N7,000 from CAP in the first week and that was the first and the last returns he made from the money-doubling business, as officials of CAP keep asking him to come back week after week.
There are indications that the company may have moved to Abeokuta to start the business afresh. “I overheard the managing director few weeks back discussing with a friend on phone that they are planning to open another branch in Abeokuta,” a source told the magazine.
When the magazine visited CAP’s office few weeks shortly before the closure, it was observed that there was no signpost in front of the building that indicates the name or the floor the company occupied in the two-storey building, except for a piece of A4-size paper pasted along the staircase directing depositors to the second floor. Some of the depositors were seen within the premises filling their registration forms. A handful of officials battled to attend to patronisers on the crowded hall. Several others numbering over 100 were on the queue waiting to be attended to. The officials responded to questions in low tones.
There are no valuable assets in CAP’s office. The austere atmosphere in the hall which is sparsely furnished and the discreet nature of the transactions give a discerning observer or a first-time visitor to the company an uneasy feeling and the impression that the company could close shop at the snap of a finger.
Such feelings led Adekiitan, an accountant with a stockbroking firm, who joined the CAP bursary package scheme January 13, 2010, to terminate his contract with the company. He had built up his portfolio with 20 people, and was earning N20,000 every week. Although throughout the period, the company did not default in its payment of bonus. Adekiitan later became sceptical and terminated his contract because he felt the investment was laced with a high level of risks.
The company was said to have been set up by an anonymous group of philanthropists. “It reminds me of the Forum and Umanah Umanah era. So, I decided to pull out, but I got everything I invested back with 400 per cent returns,” explained Adekiitan.
Several others became uncomfortable because information regarding the ownership of the company was scanty. As he put it, the officials could not give the names of the founders or even the managing director to any of the customers. “They are not new; they only re review their registration or payment structure, so as to deceive gullible investors. Once you cannot start such scheme without a sponsor, so what they do is to collect your money and other new customers to pay their sponsors. While the sponsors strive harder to get more people in order to get more money, the new customers will strive to become a sponsor by looking for other new people to join the league,” Sola Owoeye, an investment analyst told the magazine. Similarly, Yinka Busari, another investment analyst with Zion Investment, says: “Most of the depositors are thieves too. They only want to reap where they didn’t sow. How can someone promise you about 200 per cent returns or more every week without disclosing the details of the business? For all you know, the acclaimed philanthropists might be making so much money with your money and you are here rejoicing that you are getting N20,000 returns on a N2,500,” said Busari.
Adekiitan and Abiodun: Relieved
Esinnah: Assures CAP customers
Oduloye: Shortchanged |
