SAN FRANCISCO, May 08, (THEWILL) – The Dangote Group on Monday raised alarm over a Ponzi Scheme in circulation claiming partnership between the “Dangote brand, Nestle, PZ Cussons and other reputable food processing companies” in launching a multi-level marketing initiative that intends to “fight hunger, poverty and stop recession” by paying participants in food.

The so-called Happy Meal Gate is the latest addition to the growing list of Ponzi schemes in Nigeria prevalent since the country slipped into recession. It targets the most vulnerable and poor in the country, capitalizing on the harsh economic condition and overtly-inflated food prices in the market and promises people immediate financial freedom.

Dangote Group’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Mr Anthony Chiejina said in a statement: “Contrary to the publication widely circulated on social media and mobile instant messaging application, the Dangote brand is neither the initiator nor a partner to the ‘Happy World Meal Gate’ Ponzi scheme and strongly warns the public against participating in such malicious schemes aimed at defrauding un-suspecting participants of their hard earned money.”

The statement read further, “the faceless entities behind the scheme have sought to achieve cheap legitimacy by associating themselves with the Dangote brand and other reputable multinationals and efforts are on-going to track and prosecute these for unlawful use of our brand name.

“As it is with other Ponzi schemes, any pyramid recruitment scheme with all mathematical permutations always leads to a dire end for participants who end up losing money. He therefore advised the public to verify any information about the brand on its official websitewww.dangote.com”.