Secrecy over high returns
FEES: INVESTORS PROMISED 20% COMMISSION
House of Monopoly won’t reveal how the company generates profits.
With the slogan “Receive double the money you invest”, the moneymakesmoney.
co.za website offers investors returns of 20% a month – actually, much more than double the original investment. The website promises that investors will receive R12 000 for every R5 000 they invest.
This immediately raises the question as to whether it is a pyramid scheme.
The website is run by a private company, House of Monopoly, with an address in Benoni. A query to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) shows that the company was registered in August 2018. It lists Toka Tibor as the sole director and presumably the only shareholder. The company has not filed any financial returns with the CIPC as yet, but not much reporting is due if it registered only a year ago.
The moneymakesmoney website doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. It provides no information on how the company generates its high returns. Every page of the site only repeats the message that investors will receive 20% return a month.
The website equates investment with a membership fee that ranges from R2 500 to R500 000. Under “how it works”, it simply states “join or sign up today and receive 20% commission of your membership fee every month for the next 12 months”.
Once their membership has expired, members can choose to take out a new membership if they want to.
The only condition of membership is that members must put out marketing material. Membership fees paid on or before the 15th of every month will receive their commission on the first of the next month, while members who sign up after the 15th will receive their 20% the following month, it states.
Tibor answered questions from Moneyweb promptly but declined to say how he generates returns. He gave the impression that House of Monopoly invests and trades in cryptocurrencies.
“Because of intellectual property, I may not tell you the nitty gritty,” he said. “Many people are trying to copy me and my ideas. The 20% commission I give every month is well calculated.
“I know a number of people who made huge profits from crypto. Then again, I know many who have not done that well. I am slowly but surely empowering people and giving them a platform to earn and save money.”
He declined to say how many members the scheme has, saying this is confidential.
Tibor referred to cryptocurrencies when asked if House of Monopoly is registered as a financial services provider with the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA).
“I have it on record in the form of many e-mails between myself and the attorneys of the FSCA that I don’t fall in the category of needing an FSB [Financial Services Board, forerunner of the FSCA] number,” he said. “Our industry, much like bitcoin, ethereum, libra and other cryptocurrencies, is a very grey area and not yet regulated.”
The FSCA confirms that neither House of Monopoly nor Tibor is registered as an authorised financial services provider or licensed by the FSCA. It also says there has been no investigation into the entity by the FSCA and that it has no record of any complaints against House of Monopoly or Tibor.