As apprehension over the fate of millions of participants in the Mavrodi
Mondial Moneybox or MMM mounts in Nigeria after accounts were
frozen, information emerged that some individuals might have become far richer
than anyone can expect.
Some, it was learnt, have been made millionaires by the platform, but in
the case of few others like one of MMM’s top men, Chuddy Ugorji, the gain may
have run into billions.
Ugorji, who is the number one guider on the platform, has been the
subject of different speculations, some of which claimed he might have made
more than N1bn over the last one year.
Social media pictures of him on luxury boat
rides or at luxury spots might have a lot to do with his new found wealth.
On the MMM website, Ugorji shared his
testimonies showing that he got millions of naira from people who had “provided
help” to him.
A screenshot even showed that Ugorji got up to
N6m at a point.
MMM runs in a peer to peer donation system, in
which you “provide help” by donating money to another participant and “get
help” by requesting for money after some days with a 30 per cent increase in
the initial donation made.
Ugorji was said to have joined MMM’s global
platform in 2015 and has been its spirited promoter in Nigeria ever since.
There is no doubt that since becoming MMM’s top
man, life has not been the same for the Imo State indigene, who describes
himself as an online entrepreneur and businessman on his Facebook account.
Recently,photographs from his recent wedding,
which took place at the Elshadai Covenant Church, Abule-Egba, Lagos, emerged
online, given the first peek at the life of an individual, who leaves one in no
doubt that the platform has been wonderful to him.
His wife, Chiamaka, who has also been a spirited
defender of MMM’s credibility, is a graduate of the Imo State University and an
indigene of the state as Ugorji. Before her husband released a statement on the
fears over MMM on Friday, Chimaka had consistently written on her Facebook,
assuring participants that their investments were safe.
Ugorji’s wedding was attended by celebrities and
other guiders of MMM. The apparently lavish weddingwas MMM-themed with guests
wearing MMM-crested sashes, while even the couple’s cake bore the MMM logo. To
cap the royalty of the wedding, entertainment at the reception was provided by
the Limpopo crooner, Kcee.
The important position Ugorji occupies in the
MMM community came to light when he revealed on his Facebook wall that MMM
guiders presented him with a brand Hyundai Crete SUV as a wedding gift.
“Thank you to our wonderful family, friends and
great MMM community for your love, support and generosity. Our wedding day was
indeed made so much memorable because of your presence and your blessings, MMM
Guiders surprised me with a brand new Hyundai Crete SUV Jeep as a wedding gift
may God bless you all for me,” he said on Facebook on November 13.
Ugorji, a son of a reverend, is a graduate of
one of India’s distant learning universities, Karnataka State Open University,
where he studied Business Administration.
Despite refutations by Ugorchi, some Nigerians
have suggested that he actually brought MMM to Nigeria.
A Twitter user, Amadi Noel, tweeted ago about an
alleged deal between Ugorchi and a Philipino millionaire.
Ugorchi himself had shared a photograph he took
with a woman he called Ritta on Facebook in January.
The photograph was apparently taken in Dubai,
where he allegedly finalised his deal on MMM Nigeria.
“With Ritta my partner and leader, a great woman
and multi-millionaire. Am blessed (sic) to work with such a successful leader
because success is contentious,” Ugorji captioned the photograph.
But in a statement he shared on his Facebook
wall on Friday, Ugorchi, denied having any deal with any Philipino, explaining
that MMM Nigeria is run by Russian, Sergei Mavrodi and controlled in Russia.
“The MMM website is being managed in Russia by
their control and supervisory team .They are responsible for every decision
made,like pairing of participants to provide help and get help,resolving issues
on the platform. I have never been to Philippines,the stories about going to
the Philippines are untrue,” he said.
However, many sceptics say those who have money
in the system should probably not hold their breath.
But Ugorji laid the blame for the panic about
MMM following the freeze on accounts onthe doorstep of the media.
“Some
ignorant Nigerians who don’t understand what MMM is all about have been
brainwashed by the information broadcasted (sic) by the media and social
networks. Bloggers who get paid for promoting rumour, when ignorant Nigerians
click on their blogs, Google Ad Sense pays them per click. Hence they seized
this opportunity to enrich themselves,” he said in his statement.
However, it is not just the high-level position
of Ugorji in MMM that came to light over the last one week, there are claims
that he might have made over N1bn in the last one year from MMM.
But he said that “(I) am not the administrator
of MMM but one of the top guiders of this great community.”
As if to address the issue of how much he had
made from the platform, he later states, “every guider in the MMM community has
a limit to withdrawal and I have never made withdrawals above my limit.”
However, he maintained that the freeze on Mavro
(MMM version of credits), was just a measure to prevent the actual collapse
feared by participants.
According to him, that MMM has collapsed is far
from the truth.
He said, “The reason for this measure is evident.
The system needs to prevent any problems that might arise during this festive
season and this measure will be cancelled once the festive season comes to an
end.
Frozen of mavros does not mean MMM has stopped
operations or crashed rather the system has adopted this measure to avoid any
mishaps. The support system are working on issues to enhance the effectiveness
of the community.”
But it is unclear whether his statement has done
much to restore confidence of Nigerians in the platform. Some say all the participants
need to learn as lesson is to look at how the scheme fared in other countries.
An audio message circulated by one of the
‘guiders’ in the scheme known as Alpha Romeo, indicates that at least three
million Nigerians are participating in the scheme, a fact that puts in focus
how massive the impact of an eventual collapse would be to Nigerians.
To put the impact in context, a Facebook user,
Peter Sunday, shared a personal experience of the reaction of a policeman to
the action taken by MMM administrators.
He said “We need to form prayer team to pray
against suicide because of this MMM halt o. This is real. I entered a vehicle
with a Mopol (mobile police) man who had been on duty since Friday and he was
not aware of the MMM freeze.
“He overheard the driver and one of the
passengers talking about MMM crash. All of a sudden he screamed ‘Haaaaaah! MMM
crash? Haaaah. I dash money dem keep for my hand, I take put for MMM oooooooh.
I am dead.’ The Mopol man then cocked his gun.”
Compared to Nigeria’s over three million
participants, when MMM Zimbabwe collapsed few months ago, only about 66,000 participants
fell victim. Still, it generated a nationwide heartache as many had sunk their
life savings into the scheme.
A report by a Zimbabwean news website, TechZim,
drew a comparison between the way the platform collapsed in the country and
what is happening in Nigeria.
“In Zimbabwe, the first sign of MMM Zimbabwe
coming to a halt was when the Reserve Bank effectively distanced itself from
any activity outside of its regulatory scope. They were powerless to either
stop MMM Zimbabwe or help those who could potentially be affected by its
subsequent demise. Like in Nigeria, government agencies in Zimbabwe condemned
the scheme at all fronts.
“This made a lot of MMM Zimbabwe participants
wonder what exactly was going on to have made the Reserve Bank come out and say
they have nothing to do with MMM, confidence still remained but eyebrows
started to get raised.”
TechZim reports that rumours of a possible
system crash instigated a wave of panic withdrawals which led to a pressure in
the system forcing the administrators to reduce the worth of Mavro by 80 per
cent. It started in April 2016 with the reduction in the Mavro growth rate from
50 per cent to 30 per cent and on to 20 per cent. Growth rate offered by MMM
Nigeria is currently 30 per cent.
At the end of the day, the amount of PHs
(Provide Helps)could not meet up with the GHs (Get Helps). That was the final
straw for MMM Zimbabwe.
Almost every social media space in Nigeria
currently hosts arguments for and against MMM. Many genuinely believe that the
freezing of accounts was a step in the right direction considering the massive
cashing out (or ‘GHing’ in MMM-Speak) for the festive period, which might
collapse the system.
But others have said the January reopening would
not happen considering what happened in other countries such as South Africa
and Zimbabwe, where the scheme has collapsed.
A South African, ThendoStivo, who shared his
views on Facebook, said those expecting that the freeze on Mavros (MMM credits)
would be lifted in January should probably not hold their breath.
‘’You should have learned from your
brothers and sisters here in South Africa. Our old Mavro money is gone as we
speak and MMM is at silence as we speak (sic) so watch out for this Ponzi
scheme, I have also learned my lesson here in South Africa. But at least it is
not too much money that I lost (sic),” he posted on Facebook.
When MMM collapsed in South Africa, the
administrators also blamed it on the panic orchestrated by untrusting media in
the country. In fact, they accused the media of “persecuting” the platform.
Punch
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