Bukola Ayinde, a Lagos-based hair vendor, has narrated how Cartdealsng, an investment company, withheld her money.

Ayinde said she invested N400,000 in January 2021, hoping to get it back in full after six months, and with a five percent return on investment each month.

After receiving her receipt of payment on January 19, 2021, Ayinde received a mail that her first withdrawal was due on April 30, and the following payment was due on July 31, 2021.

“I knew she had been into this investment business for a long time, so I decided to opt-in,” she told FIJ. 

“After the payment of the capital, I was told that my interest was N120,000 after six months, and a customer’s dashboard was opened for me.”

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Investors had been receiving some emails from the company before the first quarter of the year,  according to Ayinde. “They said the system of interest rates had changed due to dollar rates and the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

However, the company said old investors would not be affected by the change.

“When the time for payment was due, we did not receive anything. Instead, only an upfront payment of N20,000 was paid to some investors after people intervened on Instagram,” said Ayinde. 

She revealed that Ola Ayorinde, the CEO of Cartdealsng, used investors’ money to open another business (bags and cosmetics).

She would still not pay investors their money. She told them to exercise patience till the businesses bloomed.

“At a point, she started telling all of us to come over to her store to carry bags of our investments’ worth and resell. People reported her illicit acts to the government, but nothing was done about it,” said Ayinde.

She said she sent several emails and messages to the company on Instagram but the representative told her to visit their store and take bags.

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“She even told us not to create scenes when we visited the store. She said she had informed the security men of what was happening and that we would be arrested if we were not careful. To date, I have not received any payment,” Ayinde lamented.

When FIJ placed a call to Ayorinde, she said the products bought have not been sold, hence the investors should either walk into the store to pick some products or exercise patience till they get sold.

She also claimed that the investors have been credited twice, not once.

“You can walk into the store to check the products yourself if you are not sure. The commissioner of police has also come to evaluate the products in the store,” she said.