Citizen TV news anchor Willis Raburu has opened up about how he lost more than Ksh300,000 in a con game in Nairobi.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on September 28, he explained that he always had the spirit of entrepreneurship from secondary school where he would sell biscuits and water to recently launching his branded masks and meat products.
"I had a secret water tap that none of the students knew about and I sold water to them," he recalled.
When he came of age, in his early 20's he was introduced to a multi-level marketing scheme that promised heaven.
Hungry to make some money, Raburu dived straight into the idea and borrowed some Ksh300,000 from a friend and promised to pay it back with interest.
"I thought about the amount of money I would make and be left with after paying the balance. I didn't know what lay in store for me.
"They convinced me to bring other investors on board and I would earn money after they joined. I also bought their products which they sold to me at a discount in order to increase my profits," he recalled.
The multi-level marketing plan is one of Kenya's most popular pyramid schemes and involves the recruitment of a large number of people through promises of wealth.
The cons employ a network of independent salespeople who sell products directly to people in their community.
These salespeople earn income based on their personal sales, as well as the sales of people they recruit to work for the company.
For example if *Mark recruits *Mary and *Joseph, he will get some of the money the two newcomers have invested. If Mary and Joseph recruit two more people each, they will earn a percentage from the 4 new people's investments.
Mark will in turn earn from Mary, Joseph and each of the 4 people introduced by his trainees. This is what persuaded the news anchor that he would make a ton of money in a very short amount of time.
"After investing all the money they stopped picking my calls. When I went to their offices I was told they had moved. That's when I discovered I was conned," he stated.
"The biggest lesson I learned was to consult before investing my money on something. Before launching the Bazu masks and meat products I talked to a lot of vendors, people in the industry and even my mentors," he added.
He joined many musicians and celebrities who have launched merchandise and various product lines by building on his popularity hit song Kalele which has over 2 million views on YouTube.
