Published 31st Dec, 2021

By Emmanuel Uti

Dayo (not real name), an auto dealer, first heard of Cypterix Investment Company in December 2020 from his younger brother, who always sang the praises of the company. Perturbed by the financial realities of the post-Covid-19 era, Dayo initially refused to join his brother’s newly found money-making venture.

However, in February 2021, he agreed to invest in the company after his brother repeatedly praised it and showed him proof of how he made N4.2 million with N3 million and N5.4 million with N4.2 million capital in less than 30 days.

Until its end, Cypterix Investment Company advertised itself as a forex investment firm that helped people trade forex and gave them a 30 percent return on investment (ROI) in 30 days.

With impressive offers, 19-year-old Muiz Ibrahim, the CEO of Cypterix Company, defrauded over 500 Nigerians to the tune of N800 million.

IT GLITTERED, BUT NOT GOLD

In February 2021, Dayo invested N12 million in Cypterix Investment Company. A few days later, Cypterix’s boss, Muiz Ibrahim, paid him N15.6 million.

“I posted about this on my WhatsApp status. I told people about forex trading. Muiz’s payment was all the evidence I needed. As my brother’s keeper, I told all of my associates about it. I sent the testimony out,” Dayo told FIJ.

In March, the next time to invest, 13 people from Dayo and four people from his brother joined the booming investment company. Dayo and his brother handed over N74 million to Muiz.

“I asked him if he had a limit on the amount he would collect, and he said he had none, assuring us we would get our money. I told him I didn’t even need his 30 percent ROI as 20 percent was fine by me. He said there was no problem. He told me to wait for 20 days,” he said.

At the end of the 20-day period, Dayo expected his interest and capital but did not get it. Muiz explained to him that the ban on cryptocurrencies by the Federal Government of Nigeria stood in the way of making withdrawals. He subsequently asked for a week to resolve the issue.

He reached out to Dayo and other investors at the end of the week, saying the issue had not been resolved. He begged for more time. But again, when it was time to pay, he gave a slew of excuses.

“He said Kuda Bank prevented him from sending about N97 million into his account, adding that some of the profits from his FMTX account could not be transferred to Kuda Bank,” he said.

“This was when we began to suspect something might be wrong. It had got to three weeks. I asked him to give proof to back up his excuses, but he had none. This was where the issue started. It took him another two weeks to send a video of his transactions. Before that, he didn’t answer our calls for two weeks.”

Dayo and other investors saw an account balance of $80,000 in Muiz’s FMTX wallet, and that calmed them down.

However, after a rigorous analysis of the video some days later, Dayo figured out that some of the transaction IDs in the video were ticked ‘successful’ while the last two, which would catch everyone’s fancy, were unsuccessful.

On FMTX, with each withdrawal, one would be asked for a “Know Your Client” (KYC), which is a form of identification. This helps FMTX and banks prevent fraud and determine if the actual owner of the account is operating the account per time. On sending the KYC, it takes less than two hours before one receives the money initiated from an FMTX account.

“This means that while Muiz was cooking his tale of excuses, he was withdrawing money and intentionally leaving the unsuccessful transactions for the future use of an excuse, but he probably forgot to edit the successful transactions when he made the video. He also refused to provide a KYC when people asked him for it. It was at this point that I knew I had been scammed,” he said.

“I called my brother, who introduced me to Muiz, but he said he did not know Muiz in person. We searched for Muiz but it seemed like a wild goose chase. He was almost like a ghost. He stopped picking up calls and replying to messages.”

To recover his money, Dayo visited the Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) office at Iyaganku in Ibadan, Oyo State, to inform them of what had happened. He felt since Muiz was a freshman at Kwara State University at the time, apprehending him would be easy, but it never was.

DAYO, OTHER INVESTORS PRESS FORWARD FOR THEIR MONEY

In May, Dayo and a group of aggrieved investors petitioned the Area F Disaster Management Unit in Lagos. The officers at the station did not attempt to help them out until they received a N200,000 bribe. According to Dayo, they called it a mobilisation fee.

“When they tracked him but could not get him, the police went to Muiz’s father’s house. When we got there, we realised they were aware of their son’s fraudulent acts,” he said.

“When the police approached Muiz’s parents, they said they had not seen him in a while and were also on the lookout for him. The following day, the police arrested his parents. Then they opened up, saying he was in Togo. They said they would sign a memorandum of understanding, assured the police that their son would pay. Then they granted them bail.”

Two weeks after his parents were arrested, Muiz reached out and said he would like to see his investors. He texted that they meet him at a certain place in Iyana-Ipaja.

RETIRED DEPUTY INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF POLICE SHIELDING MUIZ

“When we got there, some guys seized our phones and said we were not allowed to take them in. The police from Area F followed us secretly. When the Area F police officers wanted to pick Muiz up there, they saw Retired Abdulrahman Olajide, a former Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG). Then they forfeited their initial plan. The man said he would come to the station the following day with Muiz, and he did,” Dayo continued.

When the retired DIG got to the police station the following day, he had a meeting with the officer in charge of the station, CSP Opadola Elizabeth, and ASP Arigidi Ebibonimighan, the Inspecting Police Officer (IPO), for about 30 minutes.

“After their meeting, they called us. Then the DIG started by querying us for filing a report on fraud and crime. He said it was a business and not fraud. He tried changing the narrative, saying businesses could fail,” Dayo said.

“I presented a shred of evidence, a collection of indicting files, then the DIG’s countenance changed. He then began to feign annoyance at Muiz. He walked out of the police station alongside the boy.”

The following day, the retired DIG phoned the officer in charge of Area F and she put the call on loudspeaker. Dayo heard what the DIG said. “He was mad that I argued the case. He then said the case was dead. He said, ‘Keep posting them until they are tired and leave you alone,” he said.

“Since that call, the case has taken an unfair direction. The IPO changed,” Dayo told FIJ. “He began guiding the DIG and Muiz’s family and telling them our moves while shielding the boy. Later, we realised the DIG was given N5 million and the IPO was given N1 million to ‘kill’ the case.

“When they saw we were not relenting, they took the case to the court without our consent.

“The DIG is using his influence to mess up the case. In my research, I found that if they arrest any internet fraudster at Ayobo or Iyana Ipaja, the DIG goes there to bail them out and stand in for them, claiming to be their relatives.

FIJ placed several calls to Muiz, but he did not answer them. At press time, he had also not responded to a text sent to him.

People are suggesting on social media that Muiz may be walking free, given that the DIG is shielding him from the wrath of the law.

A simple Twitter search using the keyword ‘Cypterix’ shows that Muiz indeed defrauded many Nigerians of millions of naira. Several Twitter users, including the popular Lord of Ajasa, a musician, called Muiz a scammer.

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