The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has disclosed the discovery of $46 million fraud in the Ponzi scheme. The Commission said that it is prosecuting Nigerian promoters of the collapsed Crypto Billion Exchange, CBEX, over their involvement in the alleged multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme.

EFCC representative, Dein Whyte, at a public hearing convened by the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, revealed that investigations traced over $46 million in stablecoin, USDT, transactions to wallets identified as collection points operated by the scheme’s promoters.

According to him, although initial speculative figures were exaggerated, forensic blockchain analysis confirmed that over $46 million flowed into the identified wallets.

Whyte disclosed that more than 1,200 victims have so far been identified in Lagos and Ogun States alone, noting that the actual number nationwide is believed to be far higher.

The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions convened the deliberations on a bill seeking to amend the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, BOFIA, following a motion for an investigative hearing into the operations of Ponzi schemes in Nigeria, with particular reference to the CBEX incident.

Declaring the hearing open, on behalf of the President of the Senate, Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, stressed that stakeholder engagement was critical to strengthening legislation and restoring confidence in the nation’s financial architecture.

Deputy Governor for Financial System Stability at the Central Bank Of Nigeria, Philip Ikeazor,  welcomed key innovations in the proposed amendment, particularly, the establishment of a registry for systemically important financial institutions.