By Raffique Shah
July 26, 2025

I find it inexcusable that adult Trinidadians and Tobagonians who have benefited from the education and training that this country has offered easily fall victim to modern-day Trinidad “smart-men”.

CCN journalist Mark Bassant has focused on an “investment” that has relieved a significant number of our citizens who, in a couple of years, lost millions of dollars, in some cases, to a bunch of fellas who looked like they never even graduated pre-school. What is even more disturbing is among the people who invested are lawyers and doctors, professionals who are supposed to be “bright”.

“Ponzi-bandits” have mastered the art of relieving the greedy by preying on their licorishness for money. If one examines the origin of these “get rich quick” schemes that have seemed to visit our shores with frequency these past few years, I find it all the more unbelievable that anyone would fall for that crap.

My friends, I have an investment proposal for you in which you cannot lose at all. You invest your first hard-earned million here, the bandit points to a graph or chart in a video presentation in which he or she has engineered a crime that is attractively packaged in colourful wrapping and presented with state of the “artificial intelligence”. I need for you to make that decision now, this deal only lasts today, by tomorrow your initial invest will be increased.

Now tell me what level of stupidity will descend upon me, especially if, as mentioned earlier, I have just made my first million. What manner of greed could drive me to even listen to this schemer beyond the exchange of pleasantries? This is not just losing my sense of reason: this is a case in which I must have more money than I ever had in my life…yet I want more.

So I squeeze out from my savings account in a bank that I swear has been robbing me month after month, year after year, just about any chance it gets. Still, I do get $6 in interest yearly, but the level of comfort I am afforded knowing that my money in my savings account is insured helps me sleep well.

Mind you, I am in no danger of becoming the next billionaire, certainly not anytime soon, but a man has got to be adventurous sometimes. That’s why I play the lotto, the $6 interest is put to work.

My creed in gambling is: I’d be a fool if I bypass the lotto agent, who this week has advertised a multi-million-dollar jackpot. The math there is simple. Invest $5 with the hope of winning millions. Even if I lose my $5, rest assured I won’t go broke.

So, when I see and hear the tears of these “investors” who have lost, in some cases their life earnings, I am baffled by lack of intellect. Baffled because I still can’t see how anyone looking at the characters who were advertising Ponzi-like schemes—their demeanour, their mannerism, the way they speak—would go on to invest in anything they have to offer.

I wouldn’t even buy bread from these people. They are not just unintelligent, they are dopes. So when people like these catch you in their sights and draw you in, you mean to say even your common sense didn’t set in at that point, ringing alarm bells, telling you, “doh be stupid”?

Imagine, you’re not able even to enjoy your hard-earned cash, and these fellas out there spending freely off of your stupidity and greed. I feel sorry for you, but even sorrier for your children who may have unknowingly egged you, fast-tracking your and their trip to doom and gloom.

My family all agree that I was a stupid man, never having taken advantage of the positions I held in public life. I have never touched one dollar of the millions that passed through my hands as a state enterprise director.

I found solace in having access and using recreational facilities owned by some of these companies that my directorship allowed me, but equally, and I should say grudgingly, they thank me for having imbued in them the mantra “eat little and live long”. They tell me I have taught them values that are almost non-existent today.

Another thing that bothers me is how easily so many people succumb to greed. It’s one of the nastiest features any human being could exhibit in his daily life. If you want a quick lesson in understanding greed, a demonstration of how easily people fall into its grasps, buy the game Monopoly and play it.

Monopoly has been tearing apart families since it was created. It is the nastiest board game that one can play. Steer clear of it.

Eat little, live long.