Close to P4 million was poured into the Ecoplexus scheme by more than a thousand Batswana who thought they were making a worthwhile investment, only to lose big, Botswana Police have said.

Ecoplexus was an online quick money making scheme that went viral on social media throughout the month of April 2023 and carried all the hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme.

People were enticed into depositing money into several bank accounts with the promise that they will be able to withdraw huge profits in the near future at the click of a button. In early May, the scheme collapsed and has disappeared with people’s monies. Police records shared with The Midweek Sun this week suggest that a total of 1137 victims have told the police of how they have lost huge sums of money through the online scheme. From the 1137 cases registered with the police, a total of P3 951 382.48 has been lost with the highest number of cases reported on the Northern side of the country.

The Northern police division has received the highest number of cases at 316 followed by the South Central Division with 263 cases. North West

Division has 250 cases, 229 for North Central Division while the Southern Division has the lowest number at 79 cases. The police have made 13 arrests (8 males and 5 females) in an effort to unravel the case. However, all were interviewed and later released. This means that the police have not been able to identify the real culprits behind Ecoplexus, it is still a mammoth task to unmask them. Nonetheless, Police Deputy Spokesperson Senior Superintendent Near Bagali says investigations are still ongoing and urges members of the public to assist with any information that could lead to the arrest of the masterminds behind Ecoplexus.

He added that chances are that some cases have not been reported to them and that many more Batswana may have been swindled of their hard-earned monies.