The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has recovered a portion of the funds lost by Nigerian investors in the fraudulent Crypto Bridge Exchange Ponzi scheme, its Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, revealed on Sunday.
In an interview with TVC News, Olukoyede confirmed that the anti-graft agency had made significant progress in its investigation, though he did not disclose the exact amount recovered. Reports indicate that Nigerians may have lost up to N1.3 trillion when the scheme collapsed in April.
“We have gone far with CBEX. We have been able to recover a reasonable amount of money,” Olukoyede said. He added that some suspects had been arrested, while others remain at large. “We are still after quite a number of people that we have declared wanted. We are still investigating a lot of wallets.”
The EFCC Chairman acknowledged difficulties in converting the stolen cryptocurrency back into cash. “Even though in the crypto wallet, the same way the money was taken from them, there is no way you will get them in dollars. There is no way you get the dollars in cash without necessarily going through the same process,” he explained.
Olukoyede disclosed that the scheme was orchestrated by foreign nationals who partnered with Nigerian collaborators to recruit victims.
“At that point, we do not know whether they knew what they were going into was fraudulent or not, but from our investigation, we are getting a clue to that,” he said.
The fraudsters reportedly held seminars and conferences, even bringing in financial experts to lend credibility to their operations. “We have the tape of their seminars and their conferences. They bring in professionals, people who are specialists in capital markets. Yes, there was the case that they brought a PhD holder, a specialist in capital markets,” Olukoyede revealed.
CBEX, a digital investment platform promising 100% returns in 30 days, first restricted withdrawals on April 9, 2025. Many investors initially dismissed it as a technical glitch until their account balances disappeared entirely.
In a shocking twist, victims were instructed to deposit additional funds—$100 for balances under $1,000 and $200 for higher amounts—to regain access to their accounts, further deepening their losses.
The EFCC is proceeding cautiously to avoid jeopardizing the case. “We have met with people. People are talking. Like I said, we are not going to give out too much because we don’t want the process to be truncated,” Olukoyede stated.
