Escaping the collapse of a pyramid
Tuesday, May 16, 2023 | 1900 Views |
Unhappy hunting ground: Social media is the platform most preferred by scammers
Sandra Modise* counts herself among the lucky ones, who smelt something fishy and dropped out of the latest “investment scheme” to leave many Batswana in tears. The Ecoplexus investment scheme, now widely acknowledged as a cleverly designed pyramid scam, began crumbling this week, with its operators suspending payouts and making all manner of excuses for non-payment to members.
Modise, the name Mmegi has given to a 30-year old Molepolole native who spoke out about the investment scheme this week, remembers first hearing about Ecoplexus towards the end of March. In fact, records at the Copyright and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) show that Ecoplexus Solar Equipment Pty Ltd was registered on April 5 and subsequently removed from the registry of companies this week.
When the State cannot rely on its own machinery to pursue suspected wrongdoing, repairing that machinery must become a national priority.The establishment of a Special Investigations and Asset Recovery Task Force may help government respond to the immediate challenge. However, Botswana cannot afford to leave the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) struggling whilst building...