NO PAYOUT. Victims of an illegal investment scheme operated by the religious group Munificence Ministry gather at its office in Barangay Bula, General Santos City on Friday (Oct. 4, 2019) supposedly to receive their promised payouts. The office, however, was abandoned and its agents and officers were nowhere to be found. (PNA photo by Richelyn Gubalani)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- A group of victims of an illegal investment scheme here operated by a religious group filed charges on Friday at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
About 30 “investors” of the Munificence Ministry trooped to the NBI-Sarangani/General Santos District Office (Sardo) in Barangay
Lagao here to file estafa charges against its operators and founders, led by couple Doris and Roland Joseph.
Lawyer Regner Peneza, NBI-Sardo head, said the complainants accused the group of failing to disburse the promised monthly payouts, including their capital or principal investments.
Peneza said the victims sought to recover their investments from Munificence, which operated for several months here and in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
“We will process their complaints for the filing of syndicated estafa charges (against its operators),” he told reporters.
Munificence, which claimed to be a religious group, solicited investments from the public in the form of donations at a monthly interest of 45 percent.
An advisory earlier issued last June by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the group enticed “the public through social media to invest by offering generous interest income.”
Munificence claimed that it is registered with SEC under registration number CN201328348, which belongs to the Interdenominational Evangelical Church Ministries, Inc., a religious non-stock corporation.
The SEC said both entities are not authorized to solicit investments and declared their operations illegal.
Also on Friday, more than 100 victims of Munificence stormed a house in Barangay Bula here that served as its office, supposedly to get their payouts.
However, the investors were dismayed after finding the office abandoned and the group's agents and officers missing.
In frustration, the angry victims carted away food supplies and other materials they found inside the office.
One of the victims, Janet Herbolario of Barangay San Isidro, said she only wanted to recover the PHP120,000 that she invested with Munificence.
“They lured us to invest our hard-earned money with the promise of stable income. But it just suddenly stopped giving payouts in July,” she said in an interview.
She said its operators have promised for several weeks to release their payouts and capital on Friday.
Peneza urged other victims of Munificence to also file formal complaints at their office against the entity.
“Its (Munificence) officers are clearly just scamming the investors again by making promises of payouts that never happen to stop them from filing complaints,” he added. (PNA)
