E-Financial
MMM: Participants Worry as January 13 Draws Close

MMM, the Ponzi scheme also known as Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox, sent its participants into panic last month when it announced that all accounts used by Nigerians had been frozen.
According to Daily Post, precisely on Tuesday December 13 2016, one day after the Eid-el-Maulud holiday, Nigerians woke up to the news which many MMM enthusiasts, who fondly call themselves Mavrodians, received with mixed feelings.
MMM had sent out the unexpected circular to all Nigerian users explaining why accounts will remain frozen for a period of 30 days.
The circular urged participants to be calm and unperturbed, saying the development was to help prevent any problems in transactions, among other reasons, during the New Year season.
With the duration expected to lapse on or before January 13, 2017, investors are anxiously looking forward to mid-January, with the hope that they finally will be able to have access to their accounts once again.
But while some participants say they believe the accounts would be reopened, others have remained in a worrying state, expressing doubts about the assurance given by MMM.
“My brother, I don’t sleep well these days. I cannot wait for middle of this month to hear and see the good news,” said a respondent who wishes to be identified only as Chuks.
“I blame myself for not totally resisting the temptation because I put money just 4 days before MMM froze accounts.
“My friends have been pledging, putting money and getting 30 per cent. Since it wasn’t hearsay, I eventually decided to give it a try with N500,000.
“My money is hanging now and I just want to get it back. I did for two weeks, so obviously my interest and profit is due for collection. Let MMM please unfreeze the accounts; I know millions too are waiting for that day.”
Another MMM investor, Toyin, told DAILY POST that she was confident the scheme would bounce back.
The self-employed lady in her early thirties further lectured our correspondent on why accounts were frozen.
“The December period is when many investors take their money and this would affect the aim of MMM which is to put money in people’s hands.
“Assuming the accounts were left open, 70 percent of people would have cashed out. The effect is that when people seek assistance, they will not get money in 9, 10 days, unlike normal circumstance when you can get within 48 hours.
“MMM foresaw this and from experience, they know that pledges reduces during Yuletide. It was a timely decision that Nigerians will still appreciate.”
On how the popular scheme works, Toyin said participants can register themselves or have someone do so for them.
“If you come to me that you want to invest and decide to pledge N100,000, I will help spread it. An amount can be shared into as many as 4 places or more, depending on what the computer generates.
“I pay on your behalf to those accounts and then inform the owners of your payment; I also send proof. After this process, I continue to monitor. This of course is why people like me get 5 percent referral bonus. I have 13 participants under me.
“Those who have thousands of participants under them are the Guiders. They are the MMM multi-millionaires; the ones you see buying cars, houses and living large.
“What I noticed is that many actually prefer to give money to others to invest because they don’t want to go through the stress of staying online or making payments. Theirs is just to see credit alert.”
Meanwhile, top MMM Nigerian guiders have continued to assure Nigerians that there is no cause for alarm.
While one, a self-styled Nigerian pastor, Ernest Chigozie Mbanefo, boasted that MMM will run smoothly until Jesus Christ comes, another threw a lavish end of the year party in Lagos, apparently to boost investors’ confidence that all is well.
Similarly, MMM founder Sergey Mavrodi, a fortnight ago warned critics to stop castigating the scheme.
“Leave MMM alone and let us work. Nothing has collapsed, and MMM will perfectly resume its work in January. We can change the world!” he asserted.
But President of Omega Fire Ministry, Apostle John Suleman, predicted doom for the Ponzi scheme in his prophecies for the year 2017, concluding that money-doubler will crash.
While investors and Nigerians await the next news about MMM, the arguable fact is that the current recession in the country helped to make the scheme popular in Nigeria.
But for MMM, the freezing of accounts in Nigeria does not stop it from launching in other countries as it recently did in Kenya and Ghana.
During the launch in Kenya, MMM noted that it is “a community of ordinary people, selflessly helping each other. The goal here is not the money. The goal is to destroy the world’s unjust financial system. Financial Apocalypse! Before you join, be sure to get acquainted with our IDEOLOGY!”
Before Nigeria, MMM had taken its message to other African countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe. In 2016 though, South Africans who took part in the scheme had their accounts frozen and up till now, it has remained that way.
MMM was founded by Mavrodi, former Russian politician, who went on the run when the original MMM collapsed in the late 1990s. By different estimates, from 5 to 40 million people lost up to $10 billion. The exact figures are not known even to the owners.
E-Financial
NRS Accredits Afri Invoice as Access Point Provider to Drive Nigeria’s Mandatory e-invoicing

Ahead of the July deadline, the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has accredited Afri Invoice as an official Access Point Provider (APP) in a major move for digital tax compliance across Nigeria.

This sovereign endorsement thrusts the emerging fintech leader into an elite tier of technology firms trusted to handle the nation’s fiscal data infrastructure.
With the July deadline looming, this offers an opportunity for Nigerian Businesses to get adequate onboarding support.
Crucially, this landmark certification comes on the heels of Afri Invoice also recently being licensed as an official Systems Integrator by the NRS—granting the company rare dual-licensed status within the national ecosystem.
BAs Nigeria rapidly transitions to a transparent, real-time fiscal economy, Afri Invoice now serves as a fully unified, secure gateway.
With this double mandate, the platform is uniquely positioned to both seamlessly integrate legacy corporate networks and directly validate, digitally sign, and transmit automated electronic invoices straight into the central NRS Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS) infrastructure.
The NRS launched the MBS platform to combat tax evasion, boost state revenues, and mandate transaction transparency across Africas largest economy.
Operating as a centralised real-time ledger, the platform intercepts and logs B2B and B2G transactions right at the point of sale.
Speaking on this milestone, Mark Odenore, Founder of Afri Invoice, said: “This accreditation represents one of the most significant moments in Afri Invoice’s journey.
“For years, we have believed that compliance should not be a financial burden that only large corporations can afford.
“The NRS has handed us the opportunity to be the bridge connecting Nigeria’s entire business community to this new era. We view e-invoicing as a launchpad for modern corporate efficiency, transparency, and growth.”
Large taxpayers transitioned during the initial rollout phase, and the NRS is actively expanding the mandate to medium and small enterprises. Because direct connection to government servers demands rigid compliance, APPs serve as the vital intermediaries.
To earn this license from NITDA, Afri Invoice underwent extensive evaluation, proving its technical resilience, software architecture quality, OAuth 2.0 security protocols, and strict alignment with the international PEPPOL interoperability framework.
A Sovereign Endorsement for Afri Invoice is not merely a commercial credential; it is a profound operational responsibility. Inclusion in the official NRS Solutions Provider Directory means businesses can confidently deploy Afri Invoice to shield themselves from compliance risks.
For Nigerian enterprises navigating these shifting tax laws, Afri Invoice eliminates technical friction by automating the full invoice lifecycle.
The platform seamlessly handles Native ERP Integration, synchronises data across international standard formats like JSON, manages real-time data submission, digital signing, and certificate lifecycles, and provides clear audit trails and dashboards for CFOs to eliminate manual human error and speed up close cycles.
Crucially, the platform supports all NRS-mandated tax categories, quantity codes, and payment statuses, future-proofing businesses as global cross-border invoice interoperability rolls out.
Ms. Fatimata Niang, the Director of Strategy &Operations, noted: “Our architecture was engineered to the highest global standards for security, interoperability, and scale.
“Every invoice running through our system is cryptographically secured and fully traceable from the millisecond it is generated. As the mandate expands to millions of taxpayers, our infrastructure is primed to handle massive volume without compromising on speed or security.”
Afri Invoice is a premier Nigerian financial technology company building modern digital invoicing and fiscal infrastructure.
Through robust API-driven solutions aligned with NRS, NITDA, and international PEPPOL protocols, the company empowers enterprises and SMEs to achieve effortless compliance with minimal technical overhead.
E-Financial
Reps Committee Recovers N521m Unremitted VAT from CBN

House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says it has recovered over ₦521 million in unremitted Value Added Tax (VAT) from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

This is part of an ongoing investigation into revenue leakages and outstanding funds owed to the federal government.
Bamidele Salam, chairman of the Committee, disclosed this while providing an update on the probe into transactions conducted through the Remita platform.
According to Salam, the investigation was initiated following a resolution of the House of Representatives to examine alleged revenue leakages, non-compliance with standard operating procedures and breaches of service level agreements linked to the Remita payment platform.
He said the committee had uncovered several outstanding liabilities and led to multiple recoveries.
Salam revealed that the committee discovered that the CBN failed to remit VAT amounting to ₦521,765,134.17, representing tax deductions on fees earned from Remita transactions.
He described the recovery as evidence of the effectiveness of legislative oversight in promoting accountability and safeguarding public resources.
The lawmaker maintained that the committee would recover all outstanding funds due to the Federal Government and blocking avenues for revenue leakages across public institutions.
It added that the CBN has been directed to remit the outstanding amount into the Federal Government Treasury and provide evidence of compliance.
The Public Accounts Committee is expected to continue its hearing on the matter on Monday, June 8, 2026, at the National Assembly in Abuja.
E-Financial
CBN Imposes N100m Penalty on Dealing Bank Inadequate Processing of Forex Documents

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that any authorised dealer bank the processes foreign exchange (forex) transactions without proper documentation will be fined N100 million.

In addition, the bank will pay N10 million for each transaction involved.
The sanctions are contained in the fourth edition of the Foreign Exchange Manual, which serves as a guide for participants in Nigeria’s forex market.
According to the CBN, the updated manual aims to improve compliance, increase transparency, and strengthen confidence in the foreign exchange system.
Banks are now required to obtain, verify, and keep all necessary documents before releasing foreign currency to customers.
Similar documentation requirements apply to forward and swap transactions, where proof of the underlying trade or obligation must be provided before settlement.
For import transactions, importers must continue to provide documents such as Form M, invoices, certificates of origin, packing lists, and shipping documents.
They must also submit Exchange Control Documents within 90 days after negotiating shipping documents through overseas correspondent banks.
The CBN warned that failure to meet documentation requirements will attract escalating sanctions.
A first violation will result in a 90-day suspension from forex transactions, a second violation will attract a 180-day suspension, and a third offence will lead to a one-year suspension.
A fourth violation could result in a complete ban from participating in forex transactions.
Banks that fail to report cases of default to the CBN will also face sanctions.
The apex bank further tightened reporting requirements. Institutions that submit required daily or monthly returns late will be fined N500,000, while those that fail to submit returns at all will pay a minimum of N5 million, plus an additional N500,000 daily until compliance is achieved.Afternoon Paper Subscription
The revised manual also strengthens oversight of banks’ foreign currency exposure.
Financial institutions that exceed approved Net Open Position limits will receive a warning for the first offence, a 10-working-day suspension from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market for the second offence, and a 90-day suspension for the third violation.
The CBN also imposed sanctions on unauthorised reallocation of foreign exchange funds. Any bank found engaging in such practices will be fined N10 million per transaction and may face additional disciplinary action under the Bankers’ Committee ethics framework.
According to the CBN, the new measures are aimed at promoting transparency, strengthening market discipline, reducing abuses, and improving investor confidence in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market.
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