In the soft, endless heat of Lagos, where the dust swirls and dreams shimmer like mirages, the men from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission squint at a photograph pinned to their cracked wall. A foreigner, Elie Bitar, 41, has vanished as neatly as a stone dropped in the river. They say he took more than ₦1.3 trillion—that’s $812 million, but who’s counting, besides every angry soul from here to Port Harcourt?
The word works its way through smoky beer parlors and street corners: “Have you heard of Crypto Bridge Exchange? Promised us riches, ran off with our rent.” The company offered returns so miraculous, even preachers raised eyebrows. “Double your money in 30 days!” they said. Most believed—because hope is cheap and paperwork is expensive.
The EFCC put it in the papers, as if Bitar might stroll in for tea. “Wanted for colossal fraud via CBEX,” the notice says. Anyone who spots him between dead generators and traffic is invited to call the Commission. Or, presumably, to shout out their window and hope the wind carries it.
The man in charge of paperwork, Dele Oyewale, signed off on the warning. He writes with the conviction of a man who’s lost his lunch money to a pickpocket too many times. He promises, as men in his position do, that no stone will remain un-turned. Judging by the stones in Lagos, that’s a lot of work.
For two years, CBEX flashed its teeth, offering fortunes without asking questions. Licensing? That’s for lesser mortals. They registered somewhere, ticked some boxes, but when the big men from the Securities and Exchange Commission came looking, all they found was tattered office curtains and laughter echoing down the corridor.
The local paper—a brave thing, probably run by someone named Bayo or Ngozi—revealed on April 24, 2025: it’s not a few angry folks, but over 600,000 people who watched their money disappear. Some bet their savings, some borrowed from cousins, a few probably mortgaged chickens. Hong Kong waved red flags in 2024, but no one here cared until the pot was empty.
This scam, like so many before it—MMM, MBA Forex, insert catchy buzzword—played the old tune: “Invest now or lose forever.” Add a sprinkle of “crypto” and “AI” for modern flavor, and the people lined up like hungry dogs at dinnertime. In the past ten years, ₦2 trillion gone—vanished. But the stories linger like afternoon haze. And somewhere, in a city bursting with noise, Bitar might be sipping cold beer, toasting our eternal optimism. Cheers, Elie. 🍻🚨
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2025-04-30 23:33