The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has labeled the UPSYS Daily Trading a pyramid operator and ordered it to stop offering and soliciting alleged sham investments to the public
In an order dated 4 April 2023, the SEC shut down its other operations under UPSYS Daily Trading Management OPC and UPSYS Daily Trading Management Consultancy as well.
The order covers its single stockholder, director, and president Mark Uy Contreras, registered owner and agent John Rey Baldenas Villarino, nominee Michael Reyes Puente, alternate nominee June Mendoza Samson, and all its other officers and operators.
UPSYS and its alternate entities have been offering investment packages worth P500 up to P150,000 in exchange for returns averaging 2 percent to 4 percent daily, allowing unwitting participants to generate returns worth P900 to P540,000 in only three months depending on the package availed.
Those who fall for the ploy also earn a 50 percent direct referral bonus for recruiting members, plus commissions on referrals made by their recruits.
The SEC said the scheme constitutes the sale and offer of securities to the public for which the enterprise does not have the requisite license and shut it down.
“The Commission also finds that the unauthorized investment scheme of the UPSYS Group is a Ponzi scheme which is likewise proscribed by law as the same constitutes fraud upon the investing public,” according to the order.
UPSYS Group is registered as a one-person corporation but has neither secured a secondary license as issuer of securities or broker dealer nor registered any securities for public offering consistent with the Securities Regulation Code.
The SEC as early as January 26 this year has issued an advisory warning the public not to invest in the UPSYS Group and to exercise caution in dealing with its founder and CEO John Villarino.
