The Court of Appeals has extended the freeze order over the bank, investment and insurance accounts of the Maria Francesca Tan (MFT) Group of Companies Inc. for another six months to protect the public from the group’s unlawful activities.
In a resolution promulgated on 30 May, the appellate court denied the MFT Group bid to lift the extension of the freeze order over company assets to 9 November this year.
In granting the extension, the CA said the freeze order will give the government time to prepare its case and file the appropriate charges without worrying about the possible dissipation of MFT Group assets linked to alleged illegal activities.
“A freeze order is an extraordinary and interim relief issued by the CA to prevent the dissipation, removal, or disposal of properties that are suspected to be the proceeds of, or related to, unlawful activities as defined in Section 3(i) of [Republic Act] No. 9160, as amended,” the court said.
“Based on the surrounding facts and circumstances, we cannot rule out the possibility that the subject bank, securities, and insurance accounts and the related and materially-linked accounts may have been used for the Ponzi scheme,” the CA said.
The CA initially issued the freeze order on 13 May on finding probable cause the group’s assets were used in unlawful activities.
The freeze order covers 138 bank accounts, four securities accounts and four insurance accounts bearing the names of the MFT Group, Foundry Ventures I Inc., Mondial Medical Technologies, Maria Francesca D. Tan, Christian Konstantin, Roxanne G. Agbayani, Enrique Eduardo D. Tan, Charles Edward D. Tan, and Luis Gabriel R. Cancio, Jr., among other officials, across several banking and financial institutions.
SEC investigations have established that the MFT Group promised its victims guaranteed returns ranging from 12 percent to 18 percent on any investment made as interest income.
The MFT Group perpetuated the fraud through the issuance of post-dated checks reflecting monthly interest of up to 1.5 percent for those investors given a promissory note or borrower-lender agreements as proof of their investment.
The SEC has cited the MFT Group and Foundry Ventures for unauthorized investment schemes and misrepresentations in their financial statements.
The agency also made permanent the cease and desist order against the MFT Group, enjoining their officers and directors to stop all activities related to the illegal solicitation of investments from the public.
