The New Juaben Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic party (NPP), Mr Kwadwo Boateng-Agyemang has opined that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) should have closed down the CHY mall before coming out to warn the public that it is a ponzi scheme.

This comes after EOCO came out with a statement to warn the public to desist from transacting business with the CHY/ Sairui Mall on Tuesday, February 2, 2021.

According to EOCO, the Chinese Company called CHY Century Heng Yue Group Limited/Sairui E-Commerce Ghana Limited, which is registered as an online trading and marketing services solicits and takes/receives funds through investment packages from its customers with a promise of guaranteed returns/margins of various percentages over a fixed short period of time.

Speaking on Atinka Tv’s morning show, Ghana Nie, hosted by Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Chairman Boateng was of the view that such companies should be shut down regardless of their way of operating.

“There has been so many issues like this in the country. The first thing EOCO should have done was to shut down that operation even before it gets to the public. Because no matter what they are doing, whether it is an internet operation, they are still working through the National Communications Authority (NCA), and the NCA has authority.

Chairman Boateng also said the perpetrators have seen a loophole in our system and have taken advantage of it to extort monies from citizens who later become victims.

He suggested that, “The authorities must realize how they deal with such issues moving forward. If you know that Ghanaians are very weak in a certain level or in taking certain decisions when something happens, and that Ghanaians engage themselves in such things, these are some of the levels you should use to measure and take a decision to protect your people. The offices of the CHY mall should have been shut by now and their equipment seized. And if you have to charge them, charge them.”

He also called on Parliament to make or reform laws to govern such operations, adding that such companies should not be allowed to operate if they cannot be regulated well by the institutions.

For his part, a Member of the NDC Communications Team, T.T Cartenor, said the laws that govern such areas are not being enforced.

He was also of the belief that lack of punishment has encouraged others to venture into such businesses, saying, “If you refuse to punish A, B will start. If you refuse to punish B, C will start it.  All still goes back to government, someone has done it before, and people cried, died, and demonstrated on the Nam1 issue, why should we sit down unconcerned?

T.T Cartenor added that, “Even if we are letting Nam1 off the hook, let the new structures take place, but all we will hear is someone is doing a similar thing and collecting monies from Ghanaians and if we don’t see the person again, it is the Ghanaian people that will cry and then we will start asking the government where is the regulator? where is the Bank of Ghana?”