*A former business partner of Akon has described the artist’s Senegal city plans to a Ponzi scheme.
We previously reported that Akon is not only building a futuristic city in Senegal, the former singer is also developing a similar cryptocurrency-based system of living in Uganda.
Per Complex, the Ugandan government has allotted Akon one square mile of land to build Akon City. Akon has reportedly bagged a $6 billion contract to build a cryptocurrency-themed city in Senegal. He shared the exciting news in a post on Instagram, writing, “KE International awarded US $6 Billion construction contract for Akon City.”
In a press release, KE International, the consulting firm that Akon is working with, announced that it “was awarded the contract to build and Execute US $6 Billion Akon City, Senegal.”
READ MORE: Uganda Gives Akon Land for Cryptocurrency-based ‘Akon City’ Amid Heated Controversy / VIDEO
Meanwhile, Devyne Stephens “sued Akon in 2021 for nearly $4 million he allegedly still owes his former partner from a prior legal settlement,” per a report from Page Six.
Stephens is asking a judge to freeze all of Akon’s New York assets until the case is resolved. Stephens argues that without the court’s intervention, he will have difficulty collecting the debt, according to papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court Monday.
Akon City and Akoin show “many of the trademark characteristics (known as ‘red flags’) of fraudulent business ventures such as Ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes,” consultant and Special Agent Scot Thomasson claims in his affidavit.
The Akon City plans “are broken promises,” said Stephen’s lawyer Jeffrey Movit.
“Akon has provided almost no transparency about who is investing in Akon City or how it will be purportedly built. Therefore, Akon City is likely a scam,” Movit wrote, citing Thomasson’s affidavit.
Per the affidavit, Thomasson wrote: “The Akon City and Akoin ventures have many of the trademark characteristics (known as ‘red flags’) of fraudulent business ventures such as Ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes. Therefore, it is likely that Akon City and Akoin are part of a fraudulent money-raising scheme.”
In a statement to Page Six, a rep for Akon said the allegations are “not based on any evidence.”
“They are nothing but innuendo and speculation, made by someone who had a claim against Akon dismissed,” the rep said.
