Who Could Have Guessed A Nigerian Prince + Formula One = Scam

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Prince Malik was quoted saying "I’ll publicise the brand, then decide what products it should make.” Talk about red flags and just being incredibly stupid.

Scams are not just in the crypto world and have been happening for years and many unfortunately have involved Nigerians. I used to help out with 419 eater.com many years ago which is a group that baited and targeted online fraud. In the late 1990's and early 2000's everything Nigerian seemed dodgy. If any country needs good PR it is them as others before them have wrecked their reputation.

When you hear the words T-Minus you are expecting to hear a countdown to a launch of some type of rocket, but not the countdown to your Formula One team disappearing which is what really happened. This is a true story and shows you how people are blinded by greed when they are desperate. If something seems too good to be true it normally is and walk away.


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In the mid 1990's Tom Walkinshaw purchased the Arrows Racing team with the main aim of achieving podiums so he could pay for the team. Sponsors are hard to come by for struggling teams and why they sell the seats for pay to play drivers. Most of these drivers have rich backers and are generally average with not much to give in terms of possibly winning races.

In 1999 Prince Malik arrives on the scene a well spoken Nigerian "prince" who had been educated in the States and Britain. His proposition to the Arrows Racing team was to offer $125 Million for half the cars advertising space and becoming a 33% share holder in the process. This was really good money and Tom Walkinshaw accepted the offer. No one quite knew where the money was coming from as they didn't really care so no one even checked out the Prince's credentials.


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The truth was Prince Malik was no Nigerian Prince and he had no money. T-Minus was his ticket to making money and the gamble was he would sell it as a brand name for clothing, chocolates, drinks and even cars. He had 1 season to generate the money to pay the Arrows team. There was 1 can of a T-Minus energy drink that was spotted which anyone can get made up.

Come September of that 1999 season and the Nigerian Prince is nowhere to be found leaving the 20 year old Arrows team in a deep financial hole. The team limped on another 2 seasons and closed their doors in 2002. This was not quite the end for the Prince though as he popped up in 2008 being a Nascar driver manager and agent who was accused of embezzling money. His name was eventually cleared but was again in trouble in 2010 accused of stealing over $200 000 from another company. Today he is somewhere in Nigeria and was last spotted working for Nigus Green Energy.

I just find it amazing how people can be hoodwinked by scam artists when a quick back ground check will tell you everything you need to know. I must admit his plan was ballsy using the car as advertising to try and launch a new company knowing you literally have a count down to the end of the season.

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6 comments
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Hey - not trying to spam lol but have you seen this proposal yet?

https://www.sportstalksocial.com/hive-101690/@amr008/proposal-fund-my-sports-engagement-project

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No I didn't see the proposal and have now since voted. I made a point in my post a few days ago that you should be given a delegation. I just didn't see the point in having to go through a vote as there is stake for this sort of thing and maybe this is how it has to be now.

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Well I guess it's because of the new proposal system.

I don't think @patrickulrich can move or delegate anymore without a proposal.

But thanks a lot for taking your time and voting for it.

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If something seems too good to be true it normally is and walk away.

That is always true, I think it's more than normally and more like certain!

The Nigerian's sure got a bad rap for scamming people, I hope most are not like that.

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Wow. Another is the desperate people who are looking for work. All kinds of cheque scams come into play with the mark thinking he is making money as a mystery shopper.

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