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Endorse Ponzi Schemes, Go to Jail: SEC Warns Nigerian Influencers, Celebrities

Published

3 weeks ago

Apr 21, 2025.

New ISA 2025 law imposes strict penalties, including ₦20 million fines and up to 10 years imprisonment for promoting unregistered investment schemes.
SEC warns celebrities, influencers, and bloggers to avoid endorsing Ponzi schemes or face legal consequences.
Crackdown follows the collapse of CBEX, which allegedly defrauded Nigerians of ₦1.3 trillion with false promises and fake affiliations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned social media influencers, bloggers, and celebrities not to promote unregistered investment schemes, EkoHotBlog can exclusively report.

Dr. Emomotimi Agama, the SEC Director-General, said the Commission is working with the EFCC, the Nigerian Police, and other agencies to find and punish people involved in such illegal activities.

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He said the new Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 clearly targets people who promote fake investment schemes and introduces strict punishments. These include fines starting from ₦20 million and jail terms of up to 10 years.

Agama reminded the public that anyone, including influencers and bloggers, who support these schemes can be punished by law.

He pointed out the collapse of CBEX, a digital platform that reportedly scammed Nigerians of over ₦1.3 trillion, as an example of why tougher action is needed. CBEX had promised to double people’s money in one month, which was a false and misleading claim.

The new law also gives SEC the power to regulate digital and virtual assets, treating them as securities.

CBEX

The SEC urged Nigerians to always check with the Commission before investing in any opportunity. If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Agama said the SEC now has special teams to watch the market closely, carry out inspections, and act quickly when fraud is suspected. These measures are part of efforts to stop large-scale scams like CBEX from happening again.