INVESTMENT SCAM. Glenn Anthony Soco, chair of the committee on commerce and industry of Cebu's Provincial Board, writes down notes during their recent session. On Thursday (Oct. 3, 2019), he said he plans to propose a task force that will run against establishments victimizing Cebuanos through investment scams. (Photo from Glenn Anthony Soco's Facebook page)
CEBU CITY -- Amid reports of the proliferation of fly-by-night investment firms victimizing Cebuanos, the chair of the Provincial Board's committee on commerce and industry on Thursday said he plans to propose the creation of a task force that will run against establishments involved in investment scams.
Glenn Anthony Soco, who represents Cebu’s 6th district at the Provincial Board, said the local government units (LGUs) down to the barangay level should augment the efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in monitoring suspicious activities of companies offering investment portfolio similar to a Ponzi scheme -- form of fraud that lures investors with high rates of return and little risk to investors.
As the SEC, along with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group CIDG-7 and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI-7), is yet to come up with a clear-cut policy against the unscrupulous investment firms, Soco said the LGUs can do their part in reporting investment firms if local officials find their activities suspicious.
Soco expressed concerns on investment schemes offered through social media as “it easily reaches all parts of the province.”
“Through this investment scam, the province will lose valuable money which could have been invested in the right businesses. Instead of increasing the economic value of the province of Cebu, the money duped by investment scams will go out of our economic system,” Soco, who served as president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry before being elected to the provincial board, said in a phone interview with the Philippine News Agency.
He lamented that the money invested in unregistered companies are not properly taxed.
“There’s a social effect on that. Imagine a family losing valuable money that could have been spent on children’s education. Retirees are also losing money to these scams,” he added.
The local officials, he said, can use their regulatory powers in knowing the nature of the businesses in their area of responsibility before they can issue permits and licenses.
Soco authored a resolution passed by the Provincial Board last Monday, urging LGUs down to the barangay level to intensify monitor and surveillance of business in their jurisdiction engaged in illegal investment activities disguised as legitimate business entities.
In the whereas clauses, Soco stressed that LGUs “must keep themselves abreast of the latest pronouncements by the SEC of suspicious entities engaged in illegal investment activities duly-registered yet masquerading as a legitimate business.”
“The local government units must refrain from registering and/or issuing permits to said entities and immediately report the same to the Securities and Exchange Commission,” the resolution read.
Soco said he is contemplating proposing the creation of a local task force that will run against illegal investment firms operating in the province. (PNA)
