THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has found more groups offering easy money schemes to the public without the government authority to solicit investments.
The corporate regulator posted new advisories this week warning the public against groups named Crowd1 Asia Pacific, Inc.; Sharebiz Ads/Sharebiz Advertising/Sharebiz Online Advertising Services; and Winners Ecommerce International Network Corp. (WinCorp).
A certain Aiza Mercado was also identified as promoting My Profit Robot, a group that was previously flagged by the SEC as operating an investment scheme without a proper license.
The SEC said all Crowd1, Sharebiz and WinCorp failed to secure a secondary license required to be allowed to sell securities and solicit investments from the public. Sharebiz and WinCorp are also not registered with the SEC as a corporation.
Registering as a corporation and obtaining a secondary license to sell securities are required by the Securities Regulation Code to authorize a company to operate an investment scheme. Without these, operators of such companies may be subject to a fine of up to P5 million, imprisonment of up to 21 years, or both.
“The public is advised not to invest or stop investing in any investment scheme being offered by any individual or group of persons allegedly for or on behalf of (the identified companies),” the SEC said.
It also warned that those behind these groups may be criminally charged and will be reported to the Bureau of Internal Revenue for appropriate penalties.
Crowd1 is supposedly offering membership packages worth P6,000 to P240,000 in its digital gaming business. It promises residual incomes or bonuses by recruitment of members, making it apparent that its business employs a pyramiding scheme in offering investment contracts.
Sharebiz, on the other hand, operates by offering to the public entry packages worth P330 to P1,100. The SEC said it encourages investors to earn through recruitment, captcha encoding, product selling and converting a portion of earnings into a so-called BIZCOIN. An investment of P500 to 50,000 may be worth a 42% interest every 20 days within two months.
WinCorp similarly offers entry packages that are priced P4,888 to P39,998. It promises investors of a daily profit of P1,000, a weekly profit of P20,000, or a monthly profit of P30,000 through selling products and recruiting members.
The public should be wary of these “get-rich-quick” schemes, the SEC said, as the people behind them are usually operating without proper authority. “[A]ny promise that defies the normal financial logic is surely unreliable and sketchy,” it said. — Denise A. Valdez
