GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Another court in Sarangani province has ordered the arrest of Kapa Community Ministry International Inc. founder Pastor Joel Apolinario and his top associates for syndicated estafa.
Lawyer Regner Peneza, head of the National Bureau of Investigation-Sarangani district office, said the agency received July 10 the warrant of arrest issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 50 in Alabel town against Apolinario and seven other people.
Peneza said the arrest warrant signed by RTC Branch 50 Judge Catherine Velasco-Supeda on July 6 stemmed from fresh complaints filed by alleged victims of Kapa’s shuttered illegal investment scheme in the province and the neighboring areas.
“We already relayed it to our special tracker team,” Peneza told reporters on Friday.
Also named in the warrant were Kapa’s corporate secretary and Apolinario’s wife Reyna, trustee Margie Danao and five other officers identified as Modie Dalaga, Benigno Tipan Jr., Marnilyn Maturan, Rickey Taer, and Joji Jusay.
Supeda did not set a bail bond for the arrest of the suspects, who were charged with syndicated estafa or violation of Article 315, paragraph 2A of the Revised Penal Code, in relation to Section 1 of Presidential Decree 1689.
Based on the endorsement signed by Clerk of Court Candice Pelarion, copies of the arrest warrant were also transmitted to the Alabel municipal police station and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Region 12.
Peneza said the arrest warrant was the second for the same complaint issued this year by a court in Sarangani, with the first coming from RTC Branch 47.
RTC Branch 29 in Bislig City, Surigao del Sur, issued warrants of the arrest in February this year against Apolinario and other Kapa officials for violation of Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code.
The Securities and Exchange Commission had flagged Kapa for soliciting investments from the public through a Ponzi-like scheme in the form of donations and memberships with a monthly payout of 30 percent.
The group, which claimed to have members nationwide, was believed to have collected around PHP50 billion in illegal investments.
It ceased operations in June last year following a crackdown ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte. (PNA)
