40,000 investors lose capital, interest •Medical doctor loses N40m, retiree N21m
THEIR plan was hatched and carried out with brutal precision. They opened shop in 2012 as “a value chain development firm focused on transforming the agriculture landscape of Nigeria”. They came out loud on both traditional and social media, showcasing their activities in newspapers and on radio and television stations, not forgetting Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and other popular online platforms. For effect, they claimed affiliation with an agro-allied company in Europe.
The design of their company’s website, www.farmforte.com, was creative, eye-catching and mobile-friendly.
Playing to the rules for five years, Osazuwa Osayi and Uyi Osayimwense, co-founders and co-CEOs of Farmforte Agro Allied, gathered strength and patronage in government circle and the community.
By this time, they had acquired a state-of-the-art cashew processing facility in Edo State and attracted the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, to commission it alongside other influential figures home and abroad.
The commissioning received flamboyant hype in the media. Like hunters, they set their trap and waited patiently for their prey. The groundwork settled, they came out in their true colours. First, they branched out of the buying and selling of agricultural products and launched Agropartnerships Technology Limited, a digital investment subsidiary of Farmforte. According to them, “the fund and portfolio management company is licensed by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)”.
At the same time, they announced that Forest Capital, another subsidiary of Farmforte, had acquired Kayvee Microfinance Bank, “to create greater synergy between socio-economic empowerment, agriculture and the finance sector.
Thus, Farmforte became a digital investment platform, where investors are attracted to investing in farm produce with mouth-watering returns on investments (ROI).
According to the company’s website, “Agropartnerships is a simple and secure collaborative platform that enables you to engage in profitable agribusiness opportunities from your home. You can invest in farms, trade in commodities and count your profits in no time.”
This, it seemed, was the original plan of Osayi and Osayimwense. With a strong digital presence, they gradually reclined into the shadow as investors fall on themselves to invest millions of naira in their mouth-watering products called portfolios, with the hope of doubling their investments within a few months.
People of letters and professionals like bankers, doctors, civil servants, teachers, accountants and retirees fell into their trap.
By December 2021, Farmforte suddenly stopped capital and ROI citing “some challenges”. Two months later, they came out via Zoom conference to allay investors’ fears, and that became the last time anyone heard from the joint CEO.
They shut down their Lagos office, plants, investors’ accounts and all contacts and literally vanished into thin air with billions of naira of investors’ funds.
‘How I lost my N21m gratuity to scam outfit’
Olukanmi Ayoola is yet to come to terms with how a certified accountant like him could fall into the hands of fraudulent young men who conned him of his retirement benefit up to the tune of N21,600,000. He came out in frustration to tell his story “so that people can be aware and they will not go on to scam other innocent people.”
Even at that, he could not afford to use his real name in print for the societal and economic backlash.
He said: “I am a respected person in my community and people come to me for investment advice because I’ve been an accountant all my life,” said Ayoola, who retired in 2021 after more than 30 years in service.
The 62-year-old did not have any premonition of what was about to befall him until he was caught in the web of lies and deceit.
He started by putting small amounts into the Agropartnerships digital platform powered by Farmforte and receiving huge profits on his capital as and when due.
Upon receiving his gratuity, he decided to multiply his investments for bigger profits. Instead, he lost the capital and expected turnover.
Ayoola said: “I came across Farmforte in 2018 when a friend introduced their product called Farmforte Food Valley to me. He said they were reliable and responsible and were into agric.
“Then, the government was talking about agriculture and the huge investment that was going into it. I picked an interest and began to do an independent investigation.
“I checked out the company’s website and it seemed genuine. So, I started with N500,000. I got my money and ROI after one year.
“Thereafter, I decided to increase the money to N1 million, and any time I had excess cash, I would put it in.
“I had money in another investment outlet -money market, and due to government policy, the interest became flat.
“At the same time, I was nearing retirement where I worked. I reasoned that I needed to take a decision now to stand on my own. So, I requested for my retirement benefits and was paid. This was in 2019. I retired same year.
“That was how I invested the whole money into the business, which is exportation of agricultural products. As a son of a farmer, I know a little about it, that there is huge profit in it.
“Agropartnerships claims to be in agro-processing and export with affiliation to a company in Holland. I saw one of it videos where Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki commissioned a large expanse of farmland and a cashew processing plant and there were many local farmers saying they had been selling their products to them. It was very believable.
“I also investigated the SEC website and saw that they were duly registered with a registration number.
“On top of that, they had not failed to pay up on due dates on my investments. All these gave me confidence that the company was real.”
At this point, Ayoola decided to push all his earnings into the business.
He said: “I started buying all their products: Poultry 02 Investment, Rice Value Chain, ChickenUp Scale, Palm Oil Processing, Cashew Exporting Scheme, and all sorts of products.
“They were aggressive in the way they advertised their products. Within six hours, if you didn’t invest in it, they would say it had sold out. Any reasonable human being would want to invest.
“They were well organised. I call it organised crime.
“I spread my investments in such a way that as one was getting due, another one was starting.
“I invested N21,600,000 of my money and my ROI also runs into millions of naira. I’ve not received a kobo.”
By December 15, 2021, the due date for one of Ayoola’s investments, the proceeds did not come.
“I was alarmed at first, but they wrote a letter to me that they were having some challenges and would pay me in due course.
That, however, became the beginning of Ayoola’s travails.
“I immediately went to their office and met other investors who were agitated and needed answers,” he said.
Office shut down
In a video on Agropartnerships Facebook page on February 16, Osayimwenme explained the problem: “For a fact the delayed circle payout happened due to two major reasons: first, the global chain supply disruption, which impacted on our ability to obtain parts of our machinery for our processing facility.
“Secondly, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business operation affected us… We have taken corrective measure to ensure that this never happens again.
“We appreciate your passion, your endurance, and we take seriously our responsibility to ensure the safety of your investment.
“To this end, we have designed specific payout timeline, and we look forward to sharing this with you on the 18th of February.”
Ayoola said: “Two days later, the company addressed us in a town hall meeting on Zoom, and raised our hopes that we would get our money soon.
“That was the last time we heard from them. They closed down their office, shut down their lines and investors’ accounts, and disappeared.”
‘I lost N40m’
Ayoola is not alone in his ordeal. A businessman, who wants to be known simply as John, also joined the scheme in 2019.
John said: “I started investing in the company in 2019, and by late 2021, I had just doubled my investment by N20m when the problem erupted.
“I was in their office where I met Ayoola and we started sharing notes.
“Because the transactions are done online, individually, and with no access to other investors, we don’t know ourselves or able to share our stories until it was too late.”
Altogether, John has N40 million locked up in Agropartnership’s account.
Another victim, David, who had invested in three portfolios worth over a million naira with Agropartnerships, has a similar story to tell.
He said: “I started with N500,000 in April 2021 and received the interest promptly on the due date.
“The ease with which the profits were paid spurred me into opening two additional portfolios with the firm.
”However, things took a different turn when Farmforte stopped paying capital and interest at the end of 2021.
Another investor loses N300,000
The loss of another investor, Serah Lawal, is small in comparison to those of Ayoola and John.
Lawal said: “I invested in Agropartnerships Potato Scheme in January 2021 and I was supposed to get my investment and ROI by October 27.
“On the due date, I sent an email to the company and got a reply. They told me that they were going through some challenges and needed to reconsider how they made their payouts.”
She noted that the company promised to pay her by February of the following year (2022), but failed tofulfil the promise, and multiple attempts she made to reach them were futile.
According to Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), she lost N300,000 after investing in three units of the scheme, while Adetoun Adekanmbi, a Lagos State-based medical doctor, lost close to N600,000 after investing in the company.
“I started investing in Agropartnerships in 2020 and I invested over N800,000 in various cycles.
“Some of the cycles lasted nine months and some 12 months. I was promised an ROI of 36 per cent.
“Initially, I got my ROI and capital as and when due. But by 2021, investors started complaining about the inability to withdraw pay-out funds from their wallets.
“When the admin of the company was contacted, they apologised and blamed it on technical errors.
“However, in February 2022, it was apparent that there was more to the issues than the earlier stated reason.
“Thereafter, we were told in a Zoom meeting that some pay-outs would be delayed because of the loss the company incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. They said they were structuring their investments so that pay-outs could recommence in July 2022.
“However, since that meeting, no more updates have been given to investors, and people can no longer log in to see their records of investments and expected returns.
“Also, their numbers and emails have been unreachable.
“I know I still have an estimated N400,000 investment in the company and likely an expected ROI of about N200,000, but I can’t log in to validate this.”
