THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is warning the public against engaging with a certain Olympro Stocktrading Web Content Publishing (Olympro), which it said is not authorized to solicit investments from the public.
In an advisory on its website, the corporate regulator said Olympro has no business registration with the SEC, except a Certificate of Business Name Registration that was given last August.
It also does not have the secondary license that allows companies to offer and sell securities to the public, nor a registration as a crowdfunding intermediary or a funding portal.
“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 Olympro… and to exercise caution in dealing with any individuals or group of persons soliciting investments for and on behalf of them,” it said.
The SEC is issuing the advisory after an investigation of the company, which it found to be offering an investment scheme through its own website and Facebook page. These were no longer accessible as of Wednesday.
Olympro supposedly claims to be a “private platform where it gives 20% interest in just eight days,” based on a screenshot of the company’s website, which the SEC attached to its advisory.
The group solicits P200 to P100,000 investments in exchange of a 5% commission from recruiting more investors. Compensation plans guarantee a 20% return in eight days, a 50% return in 15 days, or a 100% return in 30 days, depending on which plan investors participate in.
The SEC said this activity can be qualified as offering securities for public sale, which is a regulated activity that requires an SEC license.
For violating the Securities Regulation Code, the people behind Olympro may be held criminally liable and penalized with a maximum P5-million fine, 21-year imprisonment, or both.
The SEC is consistently issuing advisories on its website to warn investors of fraudulent investment schemes. It has so far issued cease and desist orders to several groups this year, namely Forsage and Forsage Philippines; Fast Track Worldwide, Inc.; JOCALS688 Beauty and Wellness Products Trading, Inc.; Building Our Success Stories Network, Inc.; CROWD1 Asia Pacific, Inc.; Lion City Finance Group, Inc.; and Payasian Pte. Ltd. Corp. — Denise A. Valdez
