Darfur Ponzi investigators appeal for cooperation

Sudan’s ministry of justice, aiming to unravel the Mawasir Ponzi scheme, wants cooperation from within the network of traders who last year rigged the scam. The Commission at the ministry responsible for conducting investigations into the Mawasir Market scam appealed to citizens who are in possession of cash, real estate, or movables related to the Mawasir transactions to meet with the commission. The Commission said that it would be better for traders to surrender these possessions now rather than potentially face prosecution at a later time.Sudan’s justice minister last year vowed swift action in the Mawasir case, a Ponzi scheme that duped thousands of investors into handing over cash or property in exchange for promises of good terms of payment at a later date. Many investors were never paid. Two ruling party parliamentarians were suspected in the case as masterminds and riots later broke out in El Fasher, which were crushed by force, killing or mortally wounding 10.

Dr. Al Nazir Hamid Al Faki, chairman of the committee, said in a press statement that his committee would prefer that traders come voluntarily to meet with the Commission rather than to come as suspects, should the Committee obtain information on them. The Committee is now working to review and inventory all of the reports gathered by investigators during the last period of investigation. The Committee also noted that it is still inventorying claims and re-interviewing complainants, with particular focus on claims of a large financial magnitude.