<![CDATA[<figure class="image"><img alt="The flag of the Central African Republic, mounted on a flagpole." src="https://cimg.co/news/126495/333990/adobestock-485028185.jpeg" srcset="https://cimg.co/news/126495/333990/responsive-images/adobestock-485028185___media_library_original_1500_1000.jpeg 1500w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333990/responsive-images/adobestock-485028185___media_library_original_1200_800.jpeg 1200w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333990/responsive-images/adobestock-485028185___media_library_original_900_600.jpeg 900w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333990/responsive-images/adobestock-485028185___media_library_original_720_480.jpeg 720w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333990/responsive-images/adobestock-485028185___media_library_original_600_400.jpeg 600w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333990/responsive-images/adobestock-485028185___media_library_original_300_200.jpeg 300w" width="1500" class="content-img"><figcaption>Source: firewings/Adobe</figcaption></figure>Police in the <a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/central-african-republic">Central African Republic</a> suspect <a href="https://cryptonews.com/news/rug-pulls-were-rampant-in-august-but-slightly-decreased-on-previous-months-report.htm">a rug pull</a> after the operators of a crypto firm &ldquo;vanished overnight.&rdquo;The news outlet <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20231016-centrafrique-enqu%C3%AAte-ouverte-suite-%C3%A0-la-disparition-de-responsables-d-une-entreprise-de-cryptomonnaie" rel="nofollow">RFI</a> reported that the Research and Investigation Section (SRI) of the National Gendarmerie (the CAR&rsquo;s police force) have &ldquo;launched an investigation&rdquo; into the firm.Prosecutors have also launched a separate investigation into the firm, whose operators &ndash; investors say &ndash; have disappeared without a trace, taking their money with them.The company is named Cl&eacute; du Succ&egrave;s (&ldquo;key to success&rdquo;).Per an earlier report from <a href="https://www.radiondekeluka.org/41248-centrafrique-les-victimes-d-escroquerie-de-la-cle-du-succes-reclament-reparation" rel="nofollow">Radio Ndekeluka</a>, the nation&rsquo;s finance ministry confirmed that the Cl&eacute; du Succ&egrave;s company has registered with authorities and was this year issued with a tax identification number.The firm reportedly gathered investment from &ldquo;hundreds&rdquo; of CAR residents.Disgruntled investors were photographed outside an apparently abandoned Cl&eacute; du Succ&egrave;s office on October 11.Cl&eacute; du Succ&egrave;s marketing material features coins emblazoned with the <a href="https://cryptonews.com/coins/bitcoin/">Bitcoin (BTC)</a> logo.RFI noted that the company is &ldquo;managed by Cameroonian and Nigerian entrepreneurs.&rdquo;The media outlet added that the firm &ldquo;promised its clients they could earn [gains of] 20% on their investments.&rdquo;Some investors are thought to have handed over their life savings to Cl&eacute; du Succ&egrave;s.The firm launched its operations in Bangui in September 2023, and spent &ldquo;weeks aggressively campaigning in the capital and its surroundings,&rdquo; attracting &ldquo;hundreds of Central Africans.&rdquo;But after &ldquo;rumors&rdquo; of an &ldquo;armed attack&rdquo; 17km outside the capital on October 8, the firm&rsquo;s operators allegedly &ldquo;disappeared overnight without a trace.&rdquo;The individuals appear to have taken &ldquo;several hundred million CFA francs&rdquo; of investors&rsquo; stake money with them.<a href="https://corbeaunews-centrafrique.org/arnaque-bancaire-en-centrafrique-les-victimes-du-credit-populaire-et-de-la-cle-du-succes-en-quete-de-justice/" rel="nofollow">Corbeaunews</a> reported that the scale of the losses at &ldquo;over a billion CFA francs&rdquo; &ndash; over $1.6 million.<figure class="image"><img alt="A map of the Central African Republic." src="https://cimg.co/news/126495/333992/car-regions-map.jpg" srcset="https://cimg.co/news/126495/333992/responsive-images/car-regions-map___media_library_original_640_459.jpg 640w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333992/responsive-images/car-regions-map___media_library_original_600_430.jpg 600w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333992/responsive-images/car-regions-map___media_library_original_300_215.jpg 300w" width="640" class="content-img"><figcaption>A map of the Central African Republic. (Source: Peter Fitzgerald [<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en">CC BY 3.0</a>])</figcaption></figure><h2 id="central-african-republic-crypto-rug-pull-claims-high-profile-victims">Central African Republic: Crypto &lsquo;Rug Pull&rsquo; Claims High-profile Victims?</h2>The media outlet claimed that the long list of Cl&eacute; du Succ&egrave;s investors includes &ldquo;lawmakers, senior civil servants, traders, and craftspeople.&rdquo;The firm&rsquo;s &ldquo;doors have been closed&rdquo; for over a week, RFI reported, with both the company&rsquo;s staff and customers &ldquo;plunged into deep uncertainty.&rdquo;Last year, the CAR government <a href="https://cryptonews.com/news/central-african-republic-has-adopted-bitcoin-as-legal-tender-reports.htm">announced it had adopted BTC and other coins as legal tender</a>, following <a href="https://cryptonews.com/news/us-bitcoiner-moves-el-salvador-anticipation-of-bitcoin-city.htm">in the footsteps of El Salvador</a>.<figure class="image"><img alt="CAR lawmakers meet in the National Assembly in April last year, when BTC was approved as legal tender." src="https://cimg.co/news/126495/333993/car-1.jpg" srcset="https://cimg.co/news/126495/333993/responsive-images/car-1___media_library_original_1093_490.jpg 1093w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333993/responsive-images/car-1___media_library_original_900_403.jpg 900w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333993/responsive-images/car-1___media_library_original_720_323.jpg 720w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333993/responsive-images/car-1___media_library_original_600_269.jpg 600w, https://cimg.co/news/126495/333993/responsive-images/car-1___media_library_original_300_134.jpg 300w" width="1093" class="content-img"><figcaption>CAR lawmakers meet in the National Assembly in April last year, when BTC was approved as legal tender. (Source: Gouvernement de la Centrafrique/Facebook)</figcaption></figure>Less than a year later, however, the nation&rsquo;s parliament repealed the same legislation.Observers think the CAR government may have been pressured into the decision by the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, a six-state economic union that includes CAR, as well as Gabon, Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Equatorial Guinea.
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‘Crypto Rug Pull’ Leaves ‘Hundreds’ of Central African Republic Investors ‘Penniless’

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