Published 22nd Oct, 2021

By Emmanuel Uti

Samuel Uko, a 26-year-old forex fraudster, has joined the Nigerian investment scam league after defrauding unsuspecting 6,000 investors to the tune of N3 billion, according to investors.

In what could be described as a smooth operation, Uko and his girlfriend, Amarachi defrauded Nigerians of billions in less than a year, got married, and vanished.

Masquerading as a forex enthusiast, Uko promised to improve the finances of many Nigerians through his company, SU Global, a supposed investment company with offices in Lagos and Port Harcourt.

He promised people appetizing profits on investments, and with the repeated mention of ‘integrity’, Uko carefully orchestrated one of the biggest investment frauds in 2021.

SHATTERED INVESTORS

With 20, 150 and 300 percent return on investment (ROI) packages, SU Global has influenced a minimum of 6,000 people. While the exact time the company started operations is unknown, victim interviews indicate that it is less than one year old.

Olanrele Tunji first heard of SU Global from a lady he met at a gym centre in Lagos in 2020. He said she persuaded him from time to time to join the platform, but he was not convinced until they exchanged contacts.

“I later convinced myself that SU Global was a real company when she kept posting about how they paid her and others that subscribed to the platform through her,” Tunji said.

Believing in what he had seen, in February, Tunji invested N500,000 in SU Global’s silver package to get a whooping ROI of N750,000 by the end of July 2021.

In April, Tunji began to suspect that something might be wrong with the company as many people raised the alarm that SU Global was a fraud.

“When I heard that I might have been scammed, I called the lady who introduced me, but to no avail. It was later that I learnt Samuel Uko had run away with our money. She refused to answer my calls because she didn’t know what to do,” he said.

SU Global’s Memorandum of Understanding with an investor

For Daniel Okunuga, he did not think he would be scammed by SU Global, not after the company paid his friend in full. SU Global promised Okunuga a three-month 30 percent ROI package. He was told that in the event the forex trade crashed, he would get his exact capital. With unwavering confidence, Okunuga invested N500,000 in December 2020.

“I believed the platform was good. In January, I got the first 30 percent and others who invested alongside me were credited. But subsequently, it’s been stories. The lady who registered me with the company said the EFCC was after the company out of jealousy,” he said.

“She even said that Samuel Uko, the CEO, had built many houses in Lekki and other areas but ran into a loss because no one wanted to buy them. She then assured me that I would get my money if I was patient.”

It is now nine months since he invested, but Okunuga has not received his money, while the representative that registered him has blocked him on WhatsApp.

UKO’S MONTHLY LIES TO CAJOL INVESTORS

Since SU Global stopped paying its investors, Uko has constantly told his investors through his Instagram page that he would pay.

FIJ learned that the last time SU Global paid any of its investors was February 2021. And even then, only a few investors were credited.

Subsequently, some investors created a Facebook page where they vent their frustration. On Twitter, many investors have called out SU Global, but nothing significant has happened.