THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned the public against investing in several “Paycheck” companies, since these are not authorized to solicit investments or have the license to sell securities.
In an advisory on the SEC website, the corporate regulator said individuals or groups representing Paycheck AB Online Services Co., Paycheck AB Online Advertising Services, Paycheck.Net.Inc., Paycheck-AB.com, Paycheck Affiliate Marketing, Paycheck: E-commerce System and Affiliate Marketing or Paycheck have been “enticing the public to invest money with the promise of monetary rewards or profits.”
“The public is hereby informed that the above named entities are not authorized to solicit investments 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 (SRC),” the SEC said.
The SEC said Paycheck firms have been asking participants to pay P1,000, and in exchange, will receive “high monetary rewards” if they recruited more people to join the investment scheme.
“[T]he public is hereby advised to stop investing in the investment scheme being offered by the said entities,” it said.
The SEC also warned that salesmen, brokers, dealers and agents of these Paycheck companies may be criminally charged and penalized with a fine and imprisonment, as indicated in Section 73 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC).
Section 73 of the SRC said the penalty for violating any of the SEC’s regulations may be a fine between P50,000 and P5 million, or imprisonment of between seven to 21 years.
“Furthermore, the names of all those involved will be reported to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) so that the appropriate penalties and/or taxes be correspondingly assessed,” it added. — Denise A. Valdez
