The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has given an insight into how Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Transportation and Construction Services Limited, Mr Babagana Dalori, built a N7billion Ponzi scheme over seven years.
The bubble has now burst. Dalori has been arrested and 27,400 Nigerians have lost their investments. Dalori had lured them into investing in his companies, promising irresistible returns.
The commission’s acting publicity secretary, Mr Tony Orilade, said Dalori took off with his Ponzi idea, by incorporating a firm in 2012, with the asset being a tricycle (Keke NAPEP).
By pooling investments from members of the public, the firm later boasted of 50 tricycles.
“The entrepreneur later diversified into other business ventures while promising mouth-watering returns to investors.
“The commission’s investigators discovered that Dalori initially paid 200 per cent interest on investors’ deposits in the firm and later reduced the interest to 135 per cent before the scheme crashed in 2018.
“To get as many unsuspecting victims into his ponzi net, Dalori engaged in massive advertisements on radio and television, including a production of a movie by A-list Nollywood actors.
“Unfortunately, his gimmicks paid off as different people took their hard-earned savings, inheritance, pensions and other sources of income and invested in Galaxy.
“Now, the scheme has crashed and investors can no longer get their money.
“At the moment, he has used the investors money to incorporate different entities without getting their consent.
“He now has Galaxy Global Energy Concept Ltd, Galaxy Miners Concept Ltd, Galaxy Global Farms, Galaxy Computers, Galaxy Block Making Factory, Galaxy Hospital and Galaxy Hotel.”
According to Orilade, all bank accounts belonging to Galaxy have been frozen in order to prevent further dissipation of investors’ funds, pending the conclusion of investigation.
