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SDA church entangled in collapsed crypto trading platform
Troubles at Optcoin came months after another popular cryptocurrency and forex trading platform known as CBEX went under, with fortunes that were wiped from accounts.
Thousands of Kenyans are alleging foul play after a cryptocurrency platform promoted by a senior Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) pastor collapsed, wiping out investments estimated to be in the millions of shillings.
Users of the crypto and forex trading platform known as Optcoin over the weekend woke up to find the platform had disappeared, with users being directed to a new platform that required at least Sh24,000 as a registration fee, allegedly to unlock the lost funds from the collapsed platform.
Many of the victims claim to have been introduced to the platform by a popular SDA pastor known as Paul Mwangi, who is the former executive director of the Central Kenya Conference of the church, which comprises congregations in Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, and nearby counties.
On Wednesday, the SDA church distanced itself from the cryptocurrency platform, arguing that it pastors promoted the digital currency trading site in their private capacity.
This followed a letter from the churn warning pastors against promoting unregulated financial investment products.
“I joined with over Sh200,000 last month and now I can’t withdraw any of it. They had said they locked withdrawals temporarily and that they’d open on November 27 with a ‘gift’ for every user. On the 27th, they pushed it to December 10, then suddenly, the website was gone,” narrated one user.
Several other users have narrated a similar ordeal on different social media platforms, including X, TikTok, and Facebook, with many calling on the DCI to act and arrest Mr Mwangi, who is their only known contact person from the company.
A cryptocurrency is a digital form of money that is not issued or controlled by any monetary authority and is traded online via digital exchanges and marketplaces.
Troubles at Optcoin came months after another popular cryptocurrency and forex trading platform known as CBEX went under, with fortunes that were wiped from accounts.
CBEX had captured the attention of many Kenyan and West African users in recent weeks with promises of AI-powered super profits, lucrative referral bonuses and easy withdrawals. Investors had been promised returns of up to 30 percent in just 30 days.
Mr Mwangi, who has since been elected the executive secretary of the East Kenya Union Conference – a larger body governing nearly half of SDA churches in Kenya, claims he is also a victim of the platform, which now appears to have been a Ponzi scheme.
“I have lost $735,000 (Sh94 million) to the platform, which I can’t withdraw. If I mentioned something about Optcoin, I meant well,” Mr Mwangi said I a YouTube video in which he appeared to clarify his involvement with the platform.
The pastor reckons that he was introduced to the platform by third parties who convinced him to transfer all his investments from different crypto and forex platforms to Optcoin.
After some time, he was allegedly made the regional director for the platform in Kenya, a role that made him the face of the crypto dealer, and ultimately convinced many people to join the platform.
In addition to the handsome returns the platform was promising investors, users earned a commission for referring users to the platform, which has been running for nearly a year now.
It is not yet clear how many users the platform had garnered before its collapse or their nationalities, because the site was unregulated and had no known registered address or office.
Some users reckon pastors and senior-ranking members of the church introduced them to Optcoin.
Before its collapse, the East and Central Division of the SDA church, which governs congregations in the region, had received wind of the pastors’ involvement and issued a caution letter to senior leaders, advising against such activities.
“No minister of the church shall, directly or indirectly, participate in, promote, or facilitate any unethical, unlicensed, or fraudulent investment activity, whether in person, through organisations, or via online platforms,” the division’s secretariat said in an internal letter sent to senior pastors on November 6, seen by Business Daily.
When reached for comment, the current executive director of the CKC, Geoffrey Wanyoike, said he cannot comment on the actions of individual pastors in the church and that the decision to promote the platform was their private decision.
He said it is not yet clear how many members of the church have been affected or how much the members had put in.
This is not the first time Kenyans have lost money in a fraudulent crypto or forex platform. In April, another popular platform known as CBEX disappeared overnight with millions of Kenyans’ funds, which have not been recovered to date.
