Police arrest 4 Beninois, 2 others over ‘Ponzi scheme’ in Gombe

The Gombe State Police Command yesterday said they have arrested six suspects plotting to defraud residents of the state in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Ishola Babaita, who addressed newsmen at the command’s headquarters, said the suspects were arrested through its community policing strategy.

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He said the six suspects comprised of two Nigerians, Abdullahi Yusuf Adamu, 26, of the Jekadafari area of the state and Jasper Jacob, 33, of Taraba State as well as Dafton Wakon Elysee, Hopko Adolphe, Jamal Salami, and Emmanuel Haunukon all from the Republic of Benin.

According to him, the four citizens of the Benin republic allegedly entered into the state illegally along 109 others on January 18.

Babaita explained that the 109 youths were recruited into the state by the six suspects to serve as marketers, saying based on their investigations, it was established that the suspects were into Ponzi scheme to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

He added that during the interrogation, the suspects claimed that they were into an online networking business called QNET.

He said that the documents tendered “as Independent Representatives (IR) of the QNET revealed that an IR is not an employee, agent or official representative of QNET.

“This means that as IR, they are to be solely responsible for complying with applicable local laws, ethical practices and paying taxes on commissions and assumes all risks related to their IR entrepreneurial activities.”

However, some of the suspects who spoke with newsmen denied the allegations, saying the business is genuine online networking. They said they were ready to defend themselves in court.