N27 Billion Scam: Celebrated Calabar Comedian Tells Story

09:05:10: Celebrated Calabar comedian, Aya Mbakara, better known as MC Mbakara, currently enmeshed in the Calabar based Micheno Multipurpose Cooperative Society disappearance of N27 billion depositors fund saga, has exclusively told www.calitown.com his own of the story as fund depositors and the police continue their search for operators of the Ponzi-like scheme.

In the early hours of this morning, from an unknown location, the comedian said, “Today is my big day, as I mark 30 years on earth. So I have decided to speak up as I celebrate this remarkable day. I apologize to all my friends and fans as my event scheduled for this day can no longer hold as a result of the issues I am about to address. I like to state My Role in Micheno Multipurpose Cooperative Society.”

Continuing, Mbakara maintained that, “I started running paid adverts for Michael Eke in August 2017 on my social media platforms, promoting Swissgolden Network, which he had been running for some months before I was contracted. I became a subscriber in September 2017, then I was used as an ambassador and MC for all marketing materials and seminars. The network grew in strength and numbers, from Swissgolden Warriors, to Micheno Venture and in March 2018, to Micheno Multipurpose Cooperative Society. In all of this transition, up until date, I have never played any role in the financial management of the company. I am not a signatory to her accounts and have maintained my role in advertising even after being appointed as a nominal Vice President.”

“I have been accused of so many things I am not aware of and read so much about myself in recent times. In all, I have decided to remain calm. I am not on the run, I am not in hiding, my phones have been on and am very available”, he insisted.

While his explanations may sound untenable to depositors, the embattled comedian also sent www.calitown.com a document believed to have been signed by Michael Eke, the man at the centre of the storm. Eke in the document, absolves the comedian of any responsibility in the disappearance of the lump depositors fund, insisting that the comedian was only a brand ambassador whose following, on and offline, was used to drive the aggressive campaign that brought a horde of depositors. We were unable to verify the authenticity of the document, signed on August 14, 2018, with one Edikan Ottoho as witness. Eke’s submissions in the document appear to be the thin alibi the comedian is hanging on to.

“With very juicy promise of rewards, Micheno Multipurpose Cooperative deceived its members into parting with their life’s savings. Under the MMCS’ investment plan, members who deposited N100, 000 are to earn N150, 000 in 40 days; N200, 000 to earn N300, 000 in 40 days; N600, 000 to earn N900, 000 in 40 days; N1million to earn N1.5 million in 40 days; N2 million to earn N3 million in 40 days. Amounts higher can be invested but will be in multiples of 1 million.

Though the cooperative started as a Swiss Golden marketing group on WhatsApp, within a few months, the group expanded to 13,000 members in 36 different WhatsApp groups and a Telegram group. In a bid to make the business more corporate, the leaders of the cooperative created a website, registered the business, and set up a well furnished office in Calabar, Cross River State. They went ahead and advised investors to register with N10, 000 to become members of the cooperative society, and more than 13,000 thousand people registered”, Leadership newspaper wrote.