- More details have emerged on how promoters of the fraudulent Ponzi scheme, Crypto Bridge Exchange, aka CBEX, convinced hundreds of thousands of investors to put money into the trading platform.
CBEX, a digital investment platform, offered investors 100 per cent profit after 30 days of purported AI trading.
No fewer than 600,000 Nigerians reportedly invested in the scheme and lost N1.3tn after it collapsed on Monday.
A report by Saturday PUNCH showed that the promoters of the platform operated under a company registered as ST Technologies International Limited.
ST Technologies was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission on September 25, 2024, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering on January 16, 2025.
Copies of the certificates were obtained by our correspondents.
One of the documents was titled, ‘Certificate of Increase in Issued Share Capital of ST Technologies International Limited Company Registration No. 7955973.’
It read, “The Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission hereby certifies that pursuant to the resolution and notice of increase in share capital dated 4th December 2024, and presented for filing on 5th December 2024, in respect of the above-named company, the increase in share capital from N1,000,000 to N201,000,000—by the creation of 200,000,000 ordinary shares of N1 each and preference shares of N0 each—has been registered with the commission. Given under my hand at Abuja this 17th day of December 2024.”
Similarly, the EFCC’s certificate of January 16, 2025, stated, “ST Technologies International Limited has been duly registered in accordance with the provisions of Section 17(2)(a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, and any other applicable law or regulation.”
Some of the victims, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH, said the registration certificates gave them confidence that the scheme was authentic.
“They were also doing charity, hospital outreach, paying hospital bills… it was a coordinated approach,” an investor who asked not to be identified said.
A check on the CAC’s website confirmed that the company remained active, though Saturday PUNCH could not access the names of its board of directors.
Open-source intelligence platforms such as NgCheck, B2BHint, and Finelib did not display the company’s address, board members, and other critical information.
A video clip from a Nigerian television station, ITV, identified one Adefowora Abiodun as the leader of ST Technologies International Limited, while another official, Oluwanisola Adefowora, was introduced as the company’s representative in Nigeria.
In the footage, the duo encouraged Nigerians to invest in the scheme and invite others to join, claiming it would help improve their standard of living.
“With the help of ST, you will not lose money. All you need to do is just to follow the order. They give advice; go in that direction. They are a group of analysts based in the United Kingdom,” Adefowora said.
The video was recorded on February 10, 2025 during the inauguration of the firm’s Abuja office attended by a crowd.
● The Telegram groups
Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that promoters of the scheme maintained different Telegram groups for users.
Our correspondents had access to three.
The first group, ‘ST Customer Support,’ had 144,460 members.
The other group, ‘Newcomer Advance Group,’ had 58,186, while the third platform, ‘ST Signal Group IV,’ had 87,864 members as of the first day of the crash.
However, all the Telegram accounts were locked following the crash of the platform on Monday.
Saturday PUNCH observed that the administrators of the groups used mostly UK mobile numbers with animated pictures for their profiles. They did not use their real photos.
Two of the administrators’ usernames were @Mentor_LaurafxWilsonn, @Maiy_Aditiii).
As of the time of filing this report, members of the ST Signal Group IV had reduced to 83,792, while those of ST Customer Support and Newcomer Advance Group had reduced to 137,085 and 54,809, respectively.
Also, the accounts had been flagged ‘Scam’ by Telegram following reports of fraud from the victims.
● EFCC begins de-registration
The EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, confirmed that the Ponzi scheme was registered under the name of ST Technologies.
He noted that the company listed consultancy services as its line of business, noting that the commission had begun the process to revoke its registration after discovering that it deviated from its stated operations.
“It wasn’t registered as CBEX. It was registered as ST Technologies. What they offered as a service was consultancy. When the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering discovered that the entity had veered off its registered line of business, modalities were initiated to withdraw that registration,” Oyewale said.
Asked whether the commission was closing in on the main perpetrators, he responded, “Work is ongoing. Our international partners have also begun investigations. I can assure you we will get to the root of the matter.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission also confirmed that “CBEX operates under the corporate identity of ST Technologies International Ltd, Smart Treasure/Super Technology.”
In a statement, the SEC said, “Preliminary investigations carried out by the commission have revealed that CBEX engaged in promotional activities to create a false perception of legitimacy, in order to entice unsuspecting members of the public into investing monies, with the promise of implausibly high guaranteed returns within a short timeframe. CBEX has failed to honour withdrawal requests from their subscribers and abruptly closed their physical offices, amid mounting complaints.”
● CBEX marketing strategies
Sources who spoke to Saturday PUNCH said promoters of the trading platform recruited some influencers and radio presenters as brand ambassadors.
The team also established offices in some major parts of the country, including Abuja, Lagos, and Ibadan, and embarked on marketing via radio and social media platforms.
Some of the radio stations that aired the Ponzi scheme programme included Orisun FM, Ile-Ife, Osun State, and three other radio stations in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The Nigerian investors also embarked on marketing in schools and churches and held giveaways.
These marketing strategies enabled the trading platform representatives to convince even the poor and illiterate individuals to invest in the scheme.
In a five-minute programme promoting CBEX on Orisun FM, one of the officials claimed that the platform could lift many Nigerians out of poverty.
“This scheme is for everyone. Even those selling herbal mixtures, those selling on the roadside, and the petty traders can invest with us. Those selling pepper and those selling vegetables in the market can also join us,” he said.
“We want everyone to join us because our intention is to make life easier for Nigerian people. We want to take them from suffering and hardships,” another stated on the programme.
Acting on the backlash from netizens, the OSBC management issued a statement, saying the presenter of the programme had been sanctioned.
Top Nigerians lose money
On Friday, a video clip of popular Fuji musician, Alhaji Taye Adebisi, aka Taye Currency, lamenting his hard luck with CBEX went viral.
In the clip, Adebisi said he lost N10m to the platform and heaped curses on his associates who introduced him to it.
The Fuji star said, “On April 1, Sodiq came to my house and said Lateef, the brand manager, had collected some money and also introduced Alaba and Small London had also collected their money, and Brother Muca
“Alaba used N1.2m he stole from the stage to invest in CBEX. Brother Muca also put in his work fee of N500,000. Sodiq used the money he was saving in the band, N850,000. Lateef invested N1.4 million.”
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