Validus and its promoters have been ordered to cease all business operations in New Zealand.

The Financial Markets Authority’s interim stop order was issued on February 16th.

As per the FMA’s order, Validus and its promoters are prohibited from

  • making offers, issues, sales or other acquisitions or disposals of financial products promoted under the brand or name Validus;
  • accepting applications for financial products promoted under the brand or name Validus;
  • distributing any restricted communication that relates to:the offer, or intended offer, of financial products promoted under the brand or name Validus;
  • accepting further contributions, investments, or deposits in respect of financial products promoted under the brand or name Validus;
  • supplying a financial advice service to any person; and
  • supplying the financial service of keeping, investing, administering, or managing money, securities, or investment portfolios on behalf of other persons

The FMA’s interim stop order follows a Validus securities fraud warning issued last October.

The FMA states it has taken further action because

there is real risk of investor harm arising from activities of Validus and its associated persons, that appear to be dishonest and misleading.

The FMA reinforces its warning that the public should exercise caution in dealing with this company and its associates.

Addressing victims of Validus, the FMA advises it

encourages people to come forward with any complaints or information about this entity, especially if they have made contributions, investments or deposits to this company and its associates.

All information is treated in confidence.

Validus is a Dubai-based Ponzi scheme run by former OneCoin scammers Parwiz Daud and Mansour Tawafi.

Howard Friend serves as Validus’ puppet CEO:

Validus recruitment efforts in New Zealand appear to be spearheaded by Australian resident Timote Masima Makaui.

As per Denise Perkin’s above FaceBook post, Makaui headlined an illegal Validus promotional event in New Zealand throughout February.

Makaui was joined by fellow Australia based Validus top recruiter Ali Weaver. Weaver promotes Validus alongside wife Fatima.

Australia issued its own Validus “scam alert” last November.

Despite the warnings, Validus clearly continues to be illegally promoted across Australia and New Zealand.

Whether authorities will take further action against Timote Masima Makaui and Ali and Fatima Weaver remains to be seen.

Despite their recruitment efforts, neither Australia or New Zealand are top sources of traffic to Validus’ website.

SimilarWeb currently ranks top sources of traffic to Validus’ website as France (35%), the Netherlands (14%) and the UK (8%).

 

Update 5th July 2023 – Validus has been permanently prohibited from operating in New Zealand.