Police have warned Ugandans about over eight Ponzi schemes that might leave them in tears. The warning follows the Capital Chicken saga, where Ugandans lost over Shs5 billion in a non-existent chicken-rearing scheme.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scheme that promises high rates of return with little risk to investors.
For many years, Ugandans have fallen victim despite warnings by law enforcement agencies and regulators.
On Monday, during the weekly police briefing at Naguru Police headquarters, Police spokesperson Fred Enanga revealed that eight Ponzi schemes are under investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in coordination with the Capital Markets Authority.
These include Veta Plan, Mall Fund, Great Wealth Youth Platform Africa, Cashmulla, Pio Crypto, Premium Clusters, Contract Kapital, and Pacs Capital Limited, among others.
Enanga said that all indicators show that Ugandans are likely to be fleeced of their hard-earned money.
“For instance, under Cash Mula, a user deposits Shs17,000 and is encouraged to invite other users and earn a commission from users under them, which is a classic pyramid scheme tactic. The user cannot recover or withdraw their money,” he said.
Enanga warned the public to be on the lookout for too-good-to-be-true deals that bear hallmarks of Ponzi schemes.
He asked Ugandans to only invest in regulated investment ventures endorsed by the Capital Markets Authority or other regulators, including the Bank of Uganda.
