Millions of cedis of more than 6,000 customers of a firm known as “Starlight Project” are in limbo as administrators and agents of the firm are nowhere to be found.
The project which began in February 2022 with the core operations of contracting part time workers to perform tasks through an app and getting paid daily, got teachers, nurses, artisans and traders among others nationwide investing thousands of their cedis.
Background
A statement signed by one Mr Christantus Kavaarpuo whose position is not stated in the statement titled: “NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBED STARLIGHT MEMBERS” and sighted by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said millions of Ghanaians had seen the benefit of the Starlight project.
The statement copied to the “Inspector General of Police, Wa Naa, EOCO and RGD,” said acts from its competitors misleading members, forced management to temporarily close the office until tensions were down but “not as published out that Starlight scammed Ghanaians and ran away.”
“Starlight competitors in Ghana started an unhealthy marketing strategy using the failure to pay all withdrawals as a point to mislead members and Ghanaians that; starlight came to scam them of their monies and its preparing to run away soon.”
The Statement further mentioned “Neon, Mena, GML, WhistleBlow” as competitors whose acts caused a lot of panic to the extent that members started tagging and accusing Starlight staff as scammers and changing Starlight social media group names to their suits.
It said the acts led to some Starlight members physically visiting the main office to attack staff whilst most were threatening staff through text, calls and voice recordings.
The Statement said current challenges were high volumes of withdrawals per day leading to inability to complete all payments of earnings per day.
Operations/Tasks
Customers are assigned 50 videos daily to be watched and send screenshots of completed tasks to a number for payment of commissions.
Commissions are paid based on the amount a customer pays as their capital and the said commission could be withdrawn at will.
A customer with a capital of GH₵3,000 receives a commission of GH₵140 daily after completing the task while those with GH₵6,000 capital receive double the amount of daily commission after the task.
Starlight app, Telegram and WhatsApp groups
GNA identified the Starlight App on Google play store which has more than 10,000 downloads and several reviews with five-star rates. Some of the reviews applauded the operations and designs of the app and the company.
After downloading the app, one could no longer use it as it gives “404 Not Found” response.
The GNA also got access to a WhatsApp group of customers named “Starlight Mid #21” which was created on May 26, 2022, and has 416 participants while the Telegram page of the Project named “Galaxy” has 43,463 members as at July 12, 2022.
Operations in Hohoe
An agent of the firm who introduced most of the customers in Hohoe to the firm known as Zanou Komlan or Paul is nowhere to be found as his number could not be reached when contacted.
The firm held a meeting for old and new members on Sunday, June 26 and later organised a mini party for them where raffles were held to award members.
Some lucky members won television sets, and this was enough proof for new entrants that the operations of the firm are real and genuine.
More than 300 participants took part in the programme and were clad in Starlight branded t-shirts and caps.
Victims
Days after the programme was held in Hohoe, customers woke up to news about the ‘disappearance’ of their monies. Some of them who spoke to the GNA on grounds of anonymity, said they invested thousands of cedis.
A trader said she invested GH₵3,000 meant for her businesses whilst her boyfriend also invested GH₵4,000 cedis adding that she knew friends who invested between GH₵12,000 and GH₵15,000 or more.
The trader said efforts to reach the agent who introduced her failed after she received only GH₵200 from the agent amid calls to find solution to her woes.
Customers from other parts of the country including Nigerians are still exchanging voice notes on the future of their investments while others also seek answers under videos of Starlight on social media platforms.
Bank of Ghana and Investment firms
The Bank of Ghana (BOG) has issued many notices to the public about investment decisions they make.
Mr Augustine Amoako Donkor, Head, Conduct Supervision Unit, BOG, during a sensitisation workshop for Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) Officers at Dambai in the Oti region on financial literacy, cautioned people not to rush and deal with financial institutions.
He urged consumers not to be in a rush to sign onto a product or service but rather read all information given them especially the terms and conditions of such product or service, ensure they understood everything read, and seek clarification on all fees and charges to be paid on the product or service.
Update
Mr Kavaarpuo in a statement titled “STARLIGHT SUBSCRIBERS COLLATION NOTICE,” dated July 4, 2022, in which he identified himself as the General Manager, said the Project was back and demanded that members re-register using their account, VIP level, date of subscription, Ghana Card and personal number, name of “Up liner” and name of their mentors.
The registration details were to be submitted by July 9 where compensation details would be announced later but GNA checks revealed victims have still not been compensated.
The Ghana News Agency can confirm that customers are still in limbo as at the time of filing this report.