Chronicle Editor
Dozens of people lost substantial sums of money since February to a pyramid scheme, E-Creator Electronic Commerce (Pvt) Ltd (E-Creator).
As all the schemes do, E-Creator promised quick returns on investment, double the capital in a week or two. Keen to make much money without breaking any sweat, prodded on by some figures who style themselves as social media influencers and celebrities and bought over by the trendy offices the scamsters operated from at Joina City in Harare, some of our people deposited money into the E-Creator account.
It is an old trick, we must say. Like the Geozing scam that left hundreds poorer in Bulawayo some 10 years ago. The basics are the same, someone comes along seeking deposits and promising high returns in a very short time. The difference is that E-Creator was digital.
It is possible that some investors got a return on their deposits but, like all Ponzi schemes ultimately do, E-Creator collapsed on its weight.
Court documents show that, sometime in January, a Chinese national, Zhao Jiatong, who was arrested for alleged fraud last week, conceived a plan to launch the online investment Ponzi scheme. In February, he, along with Trymore Tapfumaneyi, Justin Kuchekenya, Bily Thomas Syedou, Abraham Mutambu, and others who are still at large, registered the company with the Registrar of Companies under the name E-Creator.
Between February and July, the company got some unsuspecting individuals to invest as much as US$1 000 through EcoCash numbers provided by Zhao.
The time for collapse came on July 3 when some complainants started facing difficulties making withdrawals but Mutambu assured them that that was down to a system upgrade that was going on. Two days later E-Creator posted a notice on its website that it had collapsed and that Zhao had left for China.
The suspects are charged with defrauding the complainants of up to US$1million. Through their lawyers, the suspects are pleading innocence while accusing the people who entrusted them with their money of having dirty hands themselves as well.
We see the case going on and on with the alleged tricksters, in the instance that they are found guilty, taking their time to raise enough to repay their accusers. It is possible that and as typically happens when pyramid schemes fall, some depositors might not recoup anything at all. We sympathise with compatriots who put their money into E-Creator hoping for good returns to improve their lives. They had good intentions.
However, our people must also always bear in mind the importance of hard, honest work and shun “investment” options that promise fast cash. They should always remember that money is never cheap. It doesn’t grow on trees.
We are glad that the E-Creator masterminds have been arrested. We are keenly following their cases at court. The facts of the matter will exonerate or convict them. If they are found to have stolen from the people, we urge the court to be stern in its punishment on Zhao and his team. The sentences must deter those who might be tempted to set up similar fraudulent schemes.
Online Reporter