Filipinos warned against illegal investment plans

Dubai: Investments promising 30 per cent to 400 per cent monthly returns seem too good to be true, and that’s because they are. The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi has called on the Filipino community in the UAE to be careful when investing their money in apparently ‘lucrative’ schemes.

“In the recent proliferation of alleged investment scams/schemes online where individuals or groups of individuals entice the public to invest in high-earning products, the Filipino community in the UAE is advised to be more cautious when engaging in such activities,” the advisory issued by Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Hjayceelyn Quintana read.

The advisory contained a list of 33 companies/schemes that Manila’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned the public against doing business with.

“All entities (on the list) are not authorised to solicit investment from the public since these did not secure prior registration and/or licence to solicit investment from the SEC as prescribed by the Securities Regulation Code,” the embassy’s warning read.

“The Filipino community in the UAE is hereby advised to exercise prudence before joining or investing their hard-earned money in high-earning products.”

It further added that members of the community who invite or recruit people to join or invest in these ventures may be “held criminally liable or accordingly sanctioned or penalised”.

The SEC list included Broilerpreneur Corporation, ADA Farm Agri Bentures (ADA Farm), Mga Business Enterprises, Rigen Marketing, among others.

It also listed the KAPA-Community Ministry International, Inc (KAPA), a religious group in Mindanao, that solicited multi-billion peso “donations” from members. The founder, Pastor Joel Apolinario, claims he invests the donations in various business ventures such as a hospitals, schools, gasoline stations, poultry farms and other entities that give jobs to locals and in turn help alleviate poverty. They also yield incomes that are given back to donors as “blessings” or “love gifts”, amounting to 30 per cent of their donation each month.

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered to shut down KAPA and similar entities last month. Manila’s National Bureau of Investigation last week filed eight counts of syndicated estafa and five counts of violation of the securities code against KAPA’s leaders and members.

Many members of KAPA, however, have declined to file a case against the ministry, but are hopeful about a resolution soon.

Carl, a Dubai resident who donated in KAPA, told Gulf News he and his wife had donated a total of 250,000 pesos and got back 150,000. He said he respects the SEC advisory, but stressed that they donated their money because they believed in the organisation’s vision that their investments could help the poor.

List of illegal entities seeking investments:

Source: Securities and Exchange Commission