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| The young man with his recently wedded wife |
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 wedding was 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.
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| Car Present from MMM members |
“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
on the 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.
Source:The
Punch
Tags
Society