SEC Orders Freezing Of CBEX Accounts Amid N1.3 Trillion Ponzi Scheme Investigation
•By Admin
ABUJA – THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has called for the freezing of bank accounts belonging to Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) and other defendants with commercial banks and financial institutions across Nigeria.
The demand was made in the ongoing case IST/OA/02/2025, Securities and Exchange Commission & Anor v Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) and 25 others, currently before the 6th Investments and Securities Tribunal.
The tribunal is presided over by Hon. Aminu Jinaidu, Chairman of the Investments and Securities Tribunal. Alongside freezing of accounts, SEC also urged the tribunal to seize houses and other assets acquired by the defendants from the proceeds of public investments in the CBEX scheme.
SEC’s plea states that CBEX is an unregistered platform that promised users an unlawful 100 percent return on investments within 30 days, violating Section 3(b) of the Investments and Securities Act 2025.
The Commission further disclosed that on April 23, 2024, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong issued an advisory warning against CBEX, identifying it as a suspicious virtual asset company.
CBEX had misleadingly adopted a name similar to a Chinese property rights trading organization with which it had no affiliation.
CBEX, launched in Nigeria around July 2024 through a website and mobile application, claimed to use advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate significant profits from crypto trading, promising returns of up to 100% within a 40- to 45-day lock-in period. It was later exposed as a Ponzi scheme, resulting in estimated investor losses exceeding N1.3 trillion (approximately $800 million).
The tribunal ordered that hearing notices be served on CBEX through national newspapers after the defendants failed to appear or be represented in court.
The chairman also presides over other significant investment-related cases currently before the tribunal.
The ongoing hearings have been adjourned to January 27, 2026.