By William Madouk Garang
Bank account of a controversial Silicone Valley company limited has been frozen by the Bank of South Sudan (BOSS) over noncompliance with pertinent laws of the country.
Director of Supervision Department at the Central Bank, Deng Aru Bol notified all commercial banks operating in Juba to cease banking with the Silicone firm, and ordered for freezing of the said company account.
“The BOSS top management would like to inform you that Silicon Valley Co. Ltd is still under investigation on issues related to compliance with all the relevant laws of South Sudan,” Bol said.
“Therefore, you are hereby directed to block and freeze the bank accounts of Silicon Valley Co. Ltd until further notice,” he continued.
In early September 2022, the alleged crypto-currency investment agency company – based in San Francisco and New York terminated its website which resulted in the suspension of many accounts.
That sparked panic among some South Sudanese who invested their money and urged for urgent intervention from the country’s security, after seemingly losing thousands, if not millions of dollars.
One of subscribers who spoke to media earlier on condition of anonymity, said she invested 4,200 dollars two months ago but the website was suspended before duration elapsed, and now she needs clarification on the status of her capital investment.
“I haven’t got what I invested for me to even get the profit because two months have not elapsed yet I was expecting by the end of this month I will be able to retain my money and then after that, I will be able to get a profit,” she claimed.
“If they feel like the company is not going to fulfill their promises as they claimed, then at least they should refund everything that we have invested,” she implored.
Another subscriber said he tried to log into the system and the system told him that it has been suspended and he thought it might be a network issue but he realized afterward that the account was really suspended.
It is however not clear when Silicone Valley Shares established its network in South Sudan.
But the company claimed it has ventured into a capital firm with more than 6.4 billion US dollars in assets across the globe since 2010.
The firm in its initial marketing plans said, its investment was focusing on markets where technology, innovation and capital can unlock long-term value and drive economic growth.
The procedure required is creating an online account by filling a form with their details and selecting small, mid, big or VIP capital plans.
An unspecified number of South Sudanese have reportedly subscribed to the network and deposited different amounts in anticipation to reap big profits.
Those who opted for small capital plan invested between 50 and 500 US dollars and expected to earn 345.6% in interest rate in 8,640 hours.
While those who chose a medium capital plan deposited 600 to 2,000$ and expected to earn 518.4% in a month.
And investors who selected big capital plan deposited between; 2,100 to 20,000 dollars and were to earn 691.2% in 8,640 hours.
The last stage, the VIP capital plan was for those who intended to invest between 25,000 to 100,000 dollars with a profit margin of 864% in a month.