Like many average Kenyans who are chasing the often elusive shilling, she cautiously looked for opportunities to invest her savings, but many, including Saccos, could not offer a charm that Inter-Web Global Fortune Limited had wooed her with.
With an average Sacco offering between 7 per cent and 10 per cent return on savings annually, a super high-interest online trading deal with a 240 per cent return promise was irresistible for anyone who heard about the company.
She let her guard down and now has to endure the pangs of hunting back the rare worth.
Ms Kimuna invested her Sh1.8 million, hoping the firm, which allegedly traded in currencies online, would pay back her investment at a rate of 20 per cent per month on the principal amount.
Further, she had a guarantee that after 12 months, at the end of the deal between her and the firm headed by Manases Kuria Karanja, she would have a full refund of her money.
Maybe, the ancestors’ wisdom cautioning anyone who walks by a sweet deal to think twice now resonates in her mind as she prays that heavens and judges will fish out her money in what the Capital Markets Authority referred to as a Ponzi scheme.
She joined the forex deal on May 5, 2019, knowing she would be getting Sh370,000 each month from her investment. However, Inter-Web paid her Sh449,000 for the month of June and partly July and stopped.
Kimuna is now chasing after Sh5.8 million which is the total amount she would have earned at the end of the one-year contract and the principal sum.
Some invested millions while others risked tens of thousands. They cumulatively invested Sh36 million, hoping to get back Sh107 million.
Not appeared in court
Another victim, Victoria Kiplagat, also put in Sh1 million, hoping to get her money back, plus interest, which totals some Sh3.2 million.
Despite her lawyer Tom Ojienda suing Global Fortune in the commercial court and even advertising about the case in the local dailies, the company or its directors have not appeared in court or replied.
Yesterday, the lawyer asked Justice Alfred Mabeya to give the firm a month and if the situation does not change, then he can enter a judgment in default.
She is not alone-105 more litigants have a similar cry against the firm.
It all started well, the investors gave different amounts of money in 2019 and even referred relatives and friends to the forex frenzy earning them good fortunes. Kiplagat signed the deal in August 2019 and it was to end this year. In order to entice her, it paid her Sh200,000 for that month and that was it.
For all those who have sued the firm, they did not know that Inter-Web Global did not have a license to run a forex trade business. They all came to know about the scam when Kuria was charged in court.
Court papers read that the man had concealed from his would-be victims that he was running an illegal business.
Umazi Runya Malingi joined Inter-Web Global a month before Kiplagat. Her contract is dated July 19, 2019. He also put Sh1.2 million in the den after a conviction that the master would fatten it into a fortune and hand it back.
Her would-be luck turned into a nightmare; she is now hunting Sh3.2 million from the firm plus interest of the entire contractual period.
The court heard that the victims threatened to sue, wrote demands for a refund but the firm remained unmoved. According to the plaintiffs, the money has been diverted, leaving the company a shell and with nothing to hold on to as compensation.
“As a result of the first defendant’s breach of respective contracts, the plaintiffs have suffered and continue to suffer financial losses and psychological torture. The director of the first defendant (second defendant) has now diverted funds into his other business in order to evade any liability, consistent with pyramid scheme aimed at defrauding innocent investors,” court papers read.
Ann Nekesa Misiko put in Sh1.2 million. She only got paid Sh119,000.
From the case, it appears the charm offensive was more on women than men. There are 59 women chasing after Kuria while men are 47.
And women gave more than men. Davis Mwakazi appears to be amongst the men who heavily paid the price of believing too much a fellow man with his money. He sunk Sh600,000 and is now pursuing some Sh1.2 million from Kuria and his company.
Another victim, Daniel Njuguna, invested Sh420,000 with the hope of getting Sh84,000 each month. He was paid once. The case will be mentioned on January 27, 2021.
:eek:
There is something about a fool and his money. Can’t remember what it was.
Most individual Forex traders heads are ferked. You can’t tell them it’s a scam. Their minds are made up on a huge profit direction. Ask yourself if I can take 100k today and in 1 year return 1m, why would I share my secret? And why do I need to borrow from you to trade?
The only people who make money in forex are governments and financial institutions. And that’s mainly because they trade without leverage. Which means they trade on a whole dollar amount and not 4-5 decimal.
There are people who make profits from trading forex. But that’s like 0.01% of the retail traders. I’m a trader (not forex) and I can tell you that very few people make money from trading in the long run. In the short term, very many people make money, and this hooks them to trading. They give it all back and some in the long run. Financial markets are like a casino to average joe traders. You can win in the short term, but if you play the game long enough the house wins. Also, if you see anyone with a course, that’s not a true trader. Never trust any poser with a product or a service to sell about trading. Real traders make money from actual trading, not selling signals, strategies, bots, or courses.
They are very easy to separate.
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Victims of an online forex exchange scam confront a police officer at the Milimani Law Courts on January 29, 2020 after the court admitted director of Inter-Web Global Fortunes, Manases Kuria Karanja, to earlier set bond terms of Sh1 million. He was charged with 7 counts of obtaining over Sh3.9 million from victims by false pretences in a company he operated without licence in 2018
A group of forex traders caused a stir at the Milimani Law Courts on Wednesday over the delayed trial of businessman Manases Karanja who is facing charges of obtaining money by false pretense and running an illegal online forex business.
Police and court officers were forced to evict the complainants from the premises after they started shouting that they wanted a refund of their investments.
Mr Karanja is facing eight counts of carrying out business as an online forex broker without a license from the Capital Markets Authority or Central Bank of Kenya.
He is also accused of obtaining Sh3.7 million from different people by false pretense. He has since denied the charges and is out on a cash bail of Sh1 million.
He is said to have committed the offense at View Park Towers Nairobi on diverse dates between January 1, 2018 and August 31, 2019 being the director of Inter Web Global Fortune Limited. When running the business, Mr Karanja is said to have invited members of the public to invest by depositing the funds with him.
In return, the investors were to get a monthly commission of 20 per cent of the amount invested. In case the relations got terminated, the investors were to get a full refund of the initial deposit.
Yesterday, when the case was called the trial failed to proceed since the presiding magistrate, Francis Adayi, was bereaved.
Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku mentioned the matter and scheduled it to proceed on February 24, 2020.
While protesting outside the court, the investors complained that they stood to lose their money as they implored the Interior Ministry to intervene.
In a casino, you actually win money. If you play the slots, you win. But over the course of the night, you start losing. Then you start chasing loses. At the end of the night you walk out with a loss. Same concept.
Only people who make a living off forex are professionals. They don’t trade their own money. That means their expectation for profit are low. For example a 10% annual return to the investor is fantastic. That means that they don’t have to use much leverage. It therefore gives them a better entry and exit point, because you knock out the time factor. Not like the average trader who wants to make 10k a week from a 30k position.
You simply rephrased my comment. In trading, newbies also make a lot of money…just like beginners luck in a casino. The longer they play, the more certain they are of losing money because the casino has an edge. In trading, professional traders are the casino. Retail traders are the customers/punters. If they trade long enough, they lose their money to the professionals.
Very true. When the deal is super sweet think twice. Anyway if making money is that simple everyone would be there already.