FIU Exonerates Orange Money
In a Press Release issued by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) after preliminary Investigation, the institution warned the public to exercise due diligence in engaging in any financial transactions in the name of Investment.
FIU notes that Super Adventis is using mobile money services of various mobile companies to scam innocent people in the guise of Investment, while their modus operandi are merely using new investors to settle existing ones, and is not a registered business entity. Super Adventis is said to be involved in what the FIU description as ‘PONZI SCHEME’ thereby fleecing unsuspecting citizens of huge sums of money to the tune of over 9 billion Leones. This action is made good through the use of some of the agents of the mobile companies.
However, the FIU informed that in collaboration with the respect MNOs and other stakeholders, mess are being put in place to arrest this season, with Orangemoney and others taking positive steps to restrict access to the accounts used by these fraudsters to scam the public.
By this revelation, Orangemoney and others could well be described as their services being exploited by this criminal cartel to fleece the public. FIU is calling on the public to exercise caution in financial dealings and to report any such activities to the institution or the nearest police station.
Furthermore, Orange SL issued a statement distancing itself from Super Adventis, describing it as fake, and also that they have alerted the Bank of Sierra Leone on the activities of the illegal entity. Orange revealed the deceptive tactics employed by Super Advertis scammers. The company clarified that unauthorized agents were illicitly collecting funds on behalf of the fraudulent platform. Immediate action was taken, upon discovering these deceitful transactions, with Orange Sierra Leone promptly blocking the accounts of these unauthorized agents.
The mobile company emphasized that these agents lacked the authorization to engage in such financial transactions, and their accounts were suspended to prevent further fraudulent activities.
“They were using our agents to collect funds on their behalf. These agents are not authorised to perform these type of transactions. When we got alert of these fraudulent transactions we immediately blocked the accounts of these agents.” the mobile network company said.
The company clarified that the primary reason for blocking the accounts was to curtail the involvement of the suspended agents. Interestingly, all attempts to reach these agents have been unsuccessful, adding another layer of mystery to the unfolding situation.
In response to their report to the BSL, the Central Bank also issued a warning to the public advising that Super Adventis is an illegal online entity operating surreptitiously to fleece innocent people of their hard-earned money and that it is not registered or recognized by the BSL, and that people should not do business with it. The Bank further encouraged Sierra Leoneans to always look for the BSL registration certificate from it, which should be displayed on the premises of all Financial business entities, and further warned financial operators to adhere strictly with the dictates of the Bank of Sierra Leone Act and its rules and regulations.