The list of illegitimate companies looking to hoodwink less discerning Filipinos lengthened on Tuesday as the Securities and Exchange Commission warned against investing in Crowdfunding Pinas and Infinity Success Trading which are both unregistered entities.
Crowdfunding Pinas, ran by one AJ Perez, encourages its victims to invest in its crowdfunding projects by dangling a guaranteed monthly return on one’s investment.
According to the SEC, the self-styled crowd funder seeks the participation of unwitting Filipinos at its latest Antipolo project called Saglit Private Villas 2nd branch and Aria Gastropub and Saglit Private Villas.
“The public is hereby informed that Crowdfunding Pinas is not registered with the commission and is not authorized to solicit investment from the public not having secured prior registration and/or license to sell securities or solicit investments as prescribed under Section 8 of the Securities Regulation Code. Likewise, Crowdfunding Pinas is not registered as crowdfunding intermediary and funding portal pursuant to the Rules Governing Crowd Funding,” the SEC said.
The agency stressed AJ Perez has not been issued a certificate of registration as associated person, compliance officer, salesman and certified investment solicitor of a broker dealer in securities investment, investment house, underwriter of securities, investment company adviser and mutual fund distributor.
Also, the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act prohibits investment fraud, which is defined as any form of deceptive solicitation of investments from the public that includes Ponzi schemes and such others involving the promise or offer of profits or returns sourced from the investments or contributions made by the investors themselves.
The SEC similarly issued a warning against Infinity Success Trading headed by one Al Sarif Hasan.
The group operates as an online trading platform ostensibly representing professional traders that will “help investors learn the safest way to trade to the best of their abilities”.
“They also allegedly help in giving signals and reading patterns to make sure investors’ trades are safe,” the SEC said.
The fraud works by securing investments for a minimum of P500 up to P100,000 where investors supposedly earn 40 percent in only seven days.
Infinity Success allegedly earns its keep by trading on foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies.
The SEC also has information the group has expanded the business to include junket trips at various casinos around the country.
“The scheme employed by (Infinity Success) has the characteristics of a Ponzi Scheme where money from new investors are used in paying fake profits to prior investors and designed mainly to favor its top recruiters and prior risk takers and detrimental to subsequent members in case of scarcity of new investors,” the SEC said.
The offer and sale of securities in the form of investment contracts using the Ponzi scheme is not a registrable security, the SEC reiterated for the nth time.
