Customers reject Patricia’s offer to convert debt to equity, plan protest 

Moves by Nigeria’s crypto trading company, Patricia Technologies, to convert its customers’ assets into equity shares in the company have been rebuffed.

Some of the customers who spoke to ThePressNG said they had received the offer letter signed by Patricia’s founder, Hanu Fejiro, but they refused to sign it because it would mean signing their money away.

They insisted on returning their crypto assets converted to Patricia Coin without their consent.

Although the company claimed its system was hacked earlier this year which led to the loss of about N2 billion in customer assets, hence the conversion of the customers’ assets value to its own created token, the customers are alleging fraud and insisting on the return of their original assets.

Already, some of the customers have concluded plans to hold a peaceful protest in Lagos to demand their crypto assets.

According to one of the customers, the company, on getting to know about the planned protest has been appealing to them to shelve it, adding that such a protest could stop potential investors from coming to the company.

They are, however, insisting on holding the protest on Tuesday, October 24, 2023.

In the offer letter titled ‘Offer to Convert Debt to Equity in Patricia Technologies Limited, the company’s founder wrote:

Meanwhile, Patricia in a statement released over the weekend debunked a viral video showing an empty office space that was purportedly vacated by the company because of the debt issue. The company said it runs a fully remote operational structure, and it has no physical office in Nigeria.

While stating that it “deeply regrets the discomfort you have experienced due to your inability to access your funds,” the company appealed to its customers as it was working to resolve the issue.

The crypto trading company earlier this year converted its customers’ crypto and cash assets to Patricia Token without their consent.

Patricia in a White Paper released to explain its actions said it experienced a cyberattack, which led to the loss of assets. It added that its commitment to integrity and customer trust spurred the creation of the Patricia Token as an internal token for the customers to hold on to.

According to the company, the Token symbolizes a promise to pay holders 1 USDT for each Patricia Token in the future, thereby ensuring asset recovery and addressing the impact of the security breach. It said the Patricia Token is not on-chain, but an internal token used to represent debt and it would be managed by the company.