Africa-Press – Botswana. Two suspects are in police custody for alleged involvement in the Ecoplexus pyramid scheme scam.
The Station Commander of Tatitown Police Station, Superintendent Neo Serumola confirmed the case saying the two suspects, a man and a woman, were handed over to the police by some of the victims or investors who had come to report the matter.
Superintendent Serumola said their preliminary investigations have revealed that the suspects were the legitimate account holders that were used by the victims to deposit the ‘investment’ funds.
He explained that since Saturday, the police station has recorded 18 such cases and that the number was expected to double by the end of this week.
“These cases are trickling in on daily basis,” said Superintendent Serumola who could not understand how some people can be so gullible to such scam,” he said.
He explained that the amount of money involved in the 18 cases was over P500 000 with one victim having been swindled P300 000.
Superintendent Serumola said the suspects have told the police that they did not have any control over their accounts as they were used by a certain Chinese national whom they worked for.
Still in Francistown, Central Police Station has recorded the highest figure of 90 victims of Ecoplexus since Friday last week.
The Station Commander, Superintendent Mogomotsi Kesupile explained in an interview that their calculations reveal that 36 of the cases amounted to over P400 000.
“We are still calculating the amount of the remaining cases,” he added. He said the police have not arrested any suspect in connection with all the 90 cases whilst police investigations continue.
At the time of going to press, police at Tatitown and Gerald police stations had also confirmed recording numerous of such cases but were still compiling their reports.
Meanwhile, Head of the Botswana Police Service Public Relations Unit, Assistant Commissioner Dipheko Motube said the legality of the scheme was a matter that could be best dealt with by financial institutions such as Bank of Botswana, Non-Banking Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) as well as Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA).
Ecoplexus pyramid scheme is allegedly a fraudulent investing scam which generates returns for earlier investors through money taken from later investors, an operation famously known as the Ponzi Scheme.
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