Ghana Clamps Down on MMM, Arrests Officials

Segun Atanda/

Unlike Nigeria, where promoters of the Mavrodi Mondial Movement (MMM) Ponzi scheme successfully defrauded investors of billions of naira, the Ghanaian authorities have begun a clampdown on the scheme’s activities.
Two more officials of the Ponzi scheme have been arrested at the instance of the country’s Central Bank, according to Ghanaian media reports.
The two were, reportedly, arrested in the process of luring unsuspecting customers to invest in the scheme.
The pair’s arrest brings to four the number of suspects being held by the authorities for promoting the scheme.
Earlier, the Police Command in the Tema region of the country, arrested two suspects after a potential client lodged a complaint against them.
In an interview with Accra-based Starr FM, the Head of Microfinance Examinations Office at the Central Bank, Patience Yeboah-Nkansah, said they “will ensure the culprits are dealt with according to the law”.
“The law empowers us that as soon as we hear of an institution engaged unlicensed microfinance activity, all we do is; we, first of all, act fast by closing down your institution. And then we made an announcement in the newspapers and then report you to the security agencies, and we hear they have nabbed two of their operators,” she further stated.
The Bank of Ghana issued a statement earlier calling on the general public to stop doing business with MMM Ghana.
The Central Bank said “this is because MMM Ghana is operating a Ponzi scheme” through a virtual office.
The statement said that “the company, which claims to have over 10,000 clients, moves from place to place and mobilises deposits from the general public.”