The Story Behind the MBA Forex Scam and Closure

MBA Forex: How it Started and Ended

MBA Forex is officially registered as MBA Capital and Trading Limited. The company was started in 2018 by Maxwell Odum in Lagos, Nigeria.

The company ran extensive social media campaigns and became quite popular, promising regular monthly returns of 15% or more. Investors were told they could withdraw funds at any time, although that turned out not to be the case.

The company collected more than 200 billion in Nigerian naira, the currency of Nigeria. In total, based on the complaints received, the company owes approximately ₦213 billion to investors, equal to about $462 million in U.S. dollars.

By Christmas of 2020, the company was facing difficulties. It shuttered its doors, and clients weren’t able to withdraw funds. The company put out a statement that they were experiencing technical issues. Investors complained that the company was no longer returning phone calls or emails.

By July of 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria issued a statement warning the public that the company was operating illegally, that it was a Ponzi scheme, and that the company was not licensed to accept funds.

MBA Forex: False Promises and Large Losses

It is unclear whether the company actually even traded the money it received. In either case, most investors who invested in the company never saw their initial deposits again, let alone any profits.

Regulations generally forbid companies from guaranteeing a certain return in volatile assets like stocks, forex, or commodities.

While certain investors, traders, trading desks, hedge funds, and even stock indices can produce great returns, such statistics must be included with other warnings; for example, they could caution that the results are based on historical data, which may not be indicative of future results.

The aggressive nature of MBA’s social media campaigns focused on the return potential to lure in customers, while not mentioning the risks. Past returns are only indicative of how someone has done in the past. This can be a measure of how they may perform in the future, but not always.

For reference, the S&P 500 has a 10.3% yearly return over the last 100 years. It is a reasonable forecast for what the average investor could make if investing in large highly profitable companies (like those included in the S&P 500 index).

The S&P 500 includes the largest 500 companies in the U.S. MBA Forex was offering more than double that per month, which should raise some red flags. When compounding returns, 20% month ends up being close to a 700% return per year.

While some elite traders produce 700% returns in a year, it is extremely rare, and such people are rarely trading other people’s money or asking for it.

MBA Forex: Who is To Blame

The main culprit behind the MBA Forex scam is Maxwell Chizi Odum, who was the CEO of the company.

In 2021, the Nigerian law enforcement agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), issued a notice that Odum was a wanted man for alleged financial crime, including money laundering and operating a Ponzi scheme.

Anyone who knew the whereabouts of Odum was told to report to the EFCC or local authorities. It was reported in August of 2022 that Odum had been arrested.

However, those claims have yet to be substantiated by other sources, and there are no court or trial documents to indicate he has seen the inside of a courtroom or received a sentence. The full extent of the fraud perpetrated by this shady CEO still remains shrouded in mystery.