A Lagos resident has accused Cokodeal, an e-commerce firm ‘based in Abuja’, of defrauding him of close to N1.8 million.
Ifeanyi Gaius, the investor, told FIJ that he invested a total sum of N1.79 million with Cokodeal in July 2021.
Gaius also said that, during the period, he signed two separate agreement deals, that would see him get a total Return on Investment (ROI) of 51 per cent at the end of five months, with the firm.
However, when it was time for him to receive his capital and the agreed ROI, Cokodeal reneged on its promise.
“In December 2021, when I thought I would get paid my capital and ROI, nothing came in,” Gaius said.
The investor said he decided to wait till January to see whether the firm would eventually pay him.
However, he still did not receive any payment from the firm in January.
“This last February, when it was clear Cokodeal was not ready to pay me, I sent the company an email, requesting that all my investments and partnership agreements be terminated. I also requested that my funds be transferred to me immediately,” he said.
“In response to my mail, one Emmanuel Edeh, who claimed to be the manager, said the company had incurred a huge loss during the pandemic.
He also told me that this was the reason they had a delay in payment. He ended by saying that they had fixed April 8 as the new refund date.
“Now, the newly promised date has passed and the money is still unpaid.”
Subsequently, Gaius decided to visit what he believed was the company’s physical address in Maitama, Abuja.
When he got to the location stated on the company’s website, he found out that the address actually existed but Cokodeal did not.
“I also tried calling the phone numbers they put on their website, but none was going through. Cokodeal has fled with my money.”
Further investigation by FIJ revealed that Cokodeal is owned by a certain Mike Dola, who has no social media profile.
FIJ made several calls to the phone line on Cokodeal’s website but they were not answered. An email and text message sent have also not been responded to at press time.
In February, FIJ reported how the same firm defrauded an investor. whose investment was supposed to mature in August 2021, of N1.4 million
SOURCE: FIJ
