Juliana Francis
Detectives attached to the Okota Police Station have arrested a man at the Isolo Market Plaza, Isolo, Lagos State for allegedly operating a 22Bet shop and Ponzi scheme.
The arrest of the suspect, who is
presently quizzed, caused the police to raid and shut down operations of the
alleged fraudulent 22Bet shop. Police were said to have responded to a tip-off
about the fraudulent activities of the said betting shop.
Our reporter gathered that police had
initially received tip-off on September 7, 2021, after a customer of the
genuine 22Bet tried to confirm if 22Bet had an ongoing promo in retail shops in
Nigeria.
The county manager, 22Bet, Mr. Fikayo
Ogunfuye explained that 22Bet is an online-only sportsbook, which doesn’t operate
any offline shops and does not receive any bets in cash.
Recalling how the suspect was caught, Ogunfuye
said that his company had been hearing of the spurious betting shop, pretending
to be 22Bet, but their discovery of the shop was shocking.
He said: “We got a tip-off from one of
our customers and then sent one of our representatives. He paid a covert visit
to an un-numbered shop at Isolo Market Plaza, Isolo, Lagos on September 8.
There were four people in the shop; a man and a woman were behind the counter,
while another two women manned the front of the counter. One of the women, who
introduced herself as Miracle attended to our representative. She explained how
the betting system in the shop works and then collected N1000, his name and
phone number. A fake betting shop worker also promised to let the visitor know
if he wins on Saturday, assuring him of a ‘cashback’ if the bet is lost.”
The county manager further revealed: “The
group is using our brand name to scam traders in the market. They are operating
a sort of Ponzi scheme, with the claim of “sure bet.” They tell people that
22Bet was running a promotion, and as a global brand, people believed it. It
was a sophisticated system and they went all out, using mini Bluetooth
printers. They also go shop to shop in the market to collect bets and remit to
their manager at the end of the day. We heard cases of people investing as
large as N700, 000 to bet with them. We urge members of the public to be vigilant
and wary of conmen. This is the fourth case being reported around the country.
We were lucky to have caught these ones before they locked up shop.”
On the day police raided the alleged
fake shop, only the manager was on duty. He told police that other workers were
out taking bets. He also stressed that he and his staff had committed no
offense.
Police also recovered fake bet tickets,
an indication that a large sum of money had been taken from the unsuspecting
customers.
Ogunfuye noted: “Judging from the
dates on the recovered tickets, the fake operation had been on for at least three
weeks before police stormed the place.”
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