THE Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has called on Nigerians to be wary of an investment solicitation by the Property World Africa Network (PWAN) and its associated platform, PWAN MAX, flagging the activity as illegal and potentially fraudulent.

The commission raised the alarm in a statement released by its management on Tuesday, May 6.

It said PWAN or PWAN MAX is not registered with the commission and, therefore, is not authorised to collect funds from the public or operate in any capacity within the Nigerian capital market.

“The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission has been drawn to the activities of “Property World Africa Network” (PWAN), which holds itself out as a real estate investment company and is soliciting funds from the public for investment purposes, through “PWAN MAX”.

“The Commission hereby informs the public that PWAN/PWAN MAX are NOT REGISTERED by the Commission either to solicit investments from the public or operate in any other capacity within the Nigerian capital market,” the SEC said.

The commission hinted that investigations have revealed that PWAN’s operations exhibit the typical indicators of a fraudulent Ponzi scheme, including the promise of unusually high returns and failure to honour withdrawal requests from subscribers.

“Accordingly, the public is strongly advised to be wary about investing with PWAN/PWAN MAX, as any person who places such investment with these entities does so at his/her own risk,” it maintained.

Additionally, the SEC urged potential investors to verify the registration status of investment platforms via its dedicated portal: www.sec.gov.ng/cmos before committing their funds.

The ICIR can report that recent concerns over the loss of funds by unsuspecting Nigerians to Ponzi scheme operators have continued to raise worries as the commission looks for ways to inform and educate the public against investing in Ponzi schemes.

On April 30, the SEC drew public attention to the activities of an online platform known as TOFRO.COM (Tofro), flagging the cryptocurrency trading platform as a fraudulent Ponzi scheme.

This followed the recent crash of Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX), a controversial digital trading platform where about N1.2 trillion was reportedly lost by people who invested in the scheme.

CBEX, said to be notorious for promising investors a 100 per cent return within 30 days through supposed artificial intelligence (AI) trading

Many Nigerians are believed to have lost funds when the CBEX platform, notorious for promising investors a 100 per cent return within 30 days through supposed artificial intelligence (AI) trading, abruptly froze withdrawals on April 14.