The Togolese police put an end to a network of criminals specialising in false job offers. In the present case, it is 7 individuals who engage in fraud and human trafficking through membership in an illegal network marketing company called QNET.
“On June 20, 2023, the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police got hold of seven (07) individuals. They are three Togolese and four Malians. They belong to a criminal network that engages in fraud and human trafficking through membership in an illegal network marketing company called QNET”, read a statement published on Tuesday by the Togolese Police.
How QNET scammers operate in Lomé
These scammers pretend to be big businessmen, contact young unemployed people in Burkina, Mali and Togo. They manage to convince them to travel to Lomé, the Togolese capital, for jobs. Once in the city, the reality is quite different. These young people live in poor conditions and no longer have to call their relatives.
Each of the victims must pay between 500,000 and 3,000,000 CFA francs (950 to 5000 USD) as training costs. People trapped in this network of thugs are stripped of their property.
To get out of this misadventure, any victim must, in turn, lure other people into the same trap. If successful, they are paid, for each new “take”, part of the subscription fees.
A raid on the headquarters of one of the QNET offices located in the Agoè Assiyéyé district in Lomé, made it possible to arrest 07 promoters of this scam company. On the spot, the Police found 73 Togolese victims and 21 victims of foreign nationalities, police said.
“Documents seized, reveal that these individuals collected from their victims the sum of 20,000,000 CFA francs.
One of the thugs alone owns five (05) buildings and several plots of land in Lomé.”
When questioned, these individuals acknowledged the facts and declared that they operate in several countries of the sub-region. Their main headquarters are in Malaysia.
“They will be presented to the Public Prosecutor of Lomé to answer for their actions. The National Police takes the opportunity to ask young people to be very careful and not to believe in easy gain”, concluded the statement.