Aggrieved investors stormed the office of Crypto Bridge Exchange Smart-Treasures, widely known as CBEX, located at Seliat Bus Stop in the Egbeda-Idimu area of Lagos State on Tuesday.
The development followed the sudden disappearance of funds from the CBEX trading app on Monday evening.
According to reports, CBEX was touted as an artificial intelligence-powered cryptocurrency trading platform that allows users to buy and sell digital assets, promising ” 100 per cent returns every month.”
Videos uploaded online showed a crowd of investors converged at the CBEX gate on Tuesday, some of whom were standing by the roadside as others tried to force their way into the premises.
Also sighted were armed police officers dispatched to ensure law and order in the area.
Dele Aina, one of those affected by the CBEX scam, said, “My sister-in-law introduced this CBEX stuff to me just about three weeks ago. I registered, downloaded the app, and did all the verifications. An account was opened for me with $500.
“They said they would trade with 2 per cent of the money daily, and at the end of 45 days or less, I would receive 100 per cent returns. My $500 was supposed to become $1,000.
“People said they had withdrawn from it before. My wife kept pressuring me to do it instead of putting the money in a fixed deposit at the bank.
“But about three days ago, we started hearing strange things. Suddenly, nobody could withdraw anymore. And then they cleared everybody’s money.
“They allegedly moved about N1.3trn into a private wallet. I only believed it was legit because they had physical offices.
“I went to their office today; it was something else. Police had to come with guns, and the DPO of Idimu had to beg the crowd. They even arrested the facility owner.
“Some people tried to jump the fence. They wanted to loot the place, taking the air conditioners, computers, everything — just like what happened in Ibadan.
“I don’t even have the money to sue anyone. I know someone who had N9m invested. Some people suffered casualties from hearing that CBEX crashed.”