From Uche Usim, Abuja
For the umpteenth time, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has warned the public about patronising ponzi schemes and other financial institutions that bait them with unrealistic offers but are not licensed by the Corporation.
Speaking at its Special Day held at 16th Abuja International Trade Fair on Tuesday, the NDIC Managing Director, Bello Hassan, said people who deposit their money in insured banks and financial institutions can get a refund when the banks liquidate, while those who put their money in banks that are not covered by the Corporation risk losing all they invested into them.
Hassan further debunked the erroneous belief held among Nigerians that when a bank goes down, customers only get N50,000 from their money regardless of the amount they had in that bank.
He said the misinformation began in the 1980s when N50,000 was the maximum initial sum paid to people who had their money in a liquidated bank. He explained that the Corporation has since reviewed the amount over the years, adding that the current initial maximum sum paid to people whose monies are trapped in a bank with insurance cover that collapses is N500,000 and N200,000 for depositors of Microfinance banks.
The NDIC MD, who was represented by the Head of Public Affairs, Mr Bashir Nuhu, said, “I would also like to serve a word of caution against patronising unscrupulous services of ponzi schemes and illegal fund managers, otherwise called “wonder banks”/ who masquerade as deposit taking institutions to dupe unsuspecting members of the public of their hard earned funds. They offer unrealistically high returns to lure their “victims” only to bolt away with their money. “These entities are not licensed by the CBN as deposit taking institutions and are therefore not covered by the deposit insurance.
