MANILA -- Authorities have implemented 12 search warrants against various groups involved in investment scams, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Tuesday.
Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Divina, deputy director of the PNP Directorate for Intelligence (DI), said they have teamed up with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to dismantle the operations of investment companies and corporations allegedly involved in scams.
According to Divina, the subject of these search warrants include Organico Agribusiness Ventures Corp. based in Cebu City; Ada Farm Agriventures in Mandaue City, Cebu; Rigen Marketing and Ever Arm Any Marketing.
"There were several search warrants, five from the CIDG [Criminal Investigation and Detection Group] and seven from the NBI and these were conducted in a number of regions namely Regions 7, 8, 11, 13 and also one in Region 2. So as you see, this is on a nationwide scale because this is really a concern," Divina told reporters during the press briefing.
Maj. Gen. Amador Corpus, director of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said most of the companies and corporations that they have operated against have initial permits from the SEC, which enabled them to be considered as a corporation.
He explained that what these firms do not have is the secondary permit, which is supposed to allow them to engage in the sale of securities or more commonly known as investment.
"Most of these companies have permits from the SEC as a corporation. The violation mostly is on the secondary permit, the sale of securities. The first permit is for them to be able to operate as a corporation. They need a secondary permit to engage in the sale of securities or what we call investment," he noted.
Corpus said the PNP found documents that proved the operations of the investment companies and corporations.
He said the documents will be used in the filing of cases against the investment companies and corporations for violation of the Securities Regulation Code.
"The SEC will file the case and we will be assisting them in the filing of cases for violation of the Securities Regulation Code," Corpus stressed.
PNP Chief General Oscar Albayalde said that educating the public is a must to strengthen their campaign against companies involved in pyramid scheme.
According to Albayalde, the companies and corporations were allegedly luring unsuspecting victims to invest money with a promised return of 15 to 400 percent interest within a month.
"No matter who you ask, may it be the SEC, DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) or any businessman, earning 15 to 400 percent interest monthly from your invested money is impossible," he said.
DILG orders LGUs to revoke business permits of Kapa
Following President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to shut down the operations of Kapa Community Ministry International Inc., the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) enjoined all city and municipal mayors to cancel and/or revoke the business permits of Kapa to prevent the public from being duped into investing their hard-earned money into an apparently fraudulent investment scheme.
The President has earlier ordered the PNP and NBI to shut down the operations of Kapa after receiving complaints from the public that the group is enticing them to donate at least PHP5,000 in exchange for a monthly return of 30 percent.
DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año also urges all city and municipal local chief executives to refrain from issuing business permits in favor of Kapa, its allied subsidiaries, and organizations and deny all existing applications for permits of the group.
The DILG’s directive came after the SEC revoked Kapa’s certificate of registration and secured over P100-million of its assets in accordance with the asset freeze order issued by the Court of Appeals.
In a memorandum issued last June 13, the DILG Chief says it is the duty of city and municipal mayors under Republic Act 7160 of the Local Government Code “to issue licenses and permits and suspend or revoke the same for any violation of the conditions upon which said licenses or permits had been issued pursuant to law or ordinance.”
He also points out that a business or mayor’s permit is not a right but a privilege granted by the State as the Supreme Court has ruled that a business permit is subject to the regulation of the State and may be revoked or withdrawn if there is cause to do so.
“In the case of Kapa, it is very clear that it has abused the privilege given by the government as it has ventured in an enterprise which promised profits that it can not fulfill,” he says.
Año also advises the public to be wary of get-rich-quick schemes because they will just be disheartened in the end.
“Sabi nga po ni Presidente, kapag easy money, mas malamang na hindi totoo. Wala pa ring tatalo sa perang nanggaling sa sipag at tiyaga (As the President said, if it is easy money, it is more likely that it is not real. Nothing beats money earned from hard work and perseverance),” he said.
Kapa started operations three years ago in Bislig, Surigao del Sur and expanded across Mindanao before reaching the Visayas and Luzon. (PNA)
