A few thousand people received one free nemstake in 2013.
Afterwards these nemstakes where introduced on the nxt asset exchange, and it became possible to trade 0.1 of these nemstakes (2014). You could buy yourself into multiple nemstakes this way. At introduction in 2015 one nemstake could be redeemed for 2.250.000 XEM.
So maybe this guy is not telling the truth, but I know it's possible.
Oh yeah, ... and don't ask for proof