THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said 46 employees of Cashtrees Lending Corp. were arrested for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act and the Lending Company Regulation Act (LCRA).

In a statement on Thursday, the SEC said its Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) along with the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) “successfully implemented a warrant to search, seize, and examine computer data” in Cashtrees Lending’s office in Pasig City last week, Feb. 12.

The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 issued a search warrant against Cashtrees Lending. The SEC said the warrant was provided for “misuse of device” when operating unregistered online lending applications.

Cashtrees Lending is registered with the commission as a corporation and it also has a certificate to operate as a lending company. It operates Happylend, Creditcash, and Cashmore, all of which are registered online lending platforms.

However, the SEC said the majority of Cashtrees Lending’s online applications are unregistered.

“The onsite digital forensic examination on the seized devices showed that the employees of Cashtrees Lending operated online lending applications such as Happylend, Rush Loan, Easy Money, Good Pocket, Dummy Loan, Lucky Star, Swipe Cash, 365 Cash, Home Peso, Mega Loan, Treecash and Goldpeso,” the commission said.

Goodpocket, Easymoney, 365 Cash, and Rush Loan have also been the subject of recent cease and desist orders issued by the commission.

“On Feb. 13, the SEC-EIPD and PNP-ACG filed with the Department of Justice an inquest complaint against the arrested employees of Cashtrees Lending for violating Section 4(a)(5)(i)(ii) of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and the LCRA in relation to Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012,” the SEC said.

The SEC said it created a task force, which will focus on handling complaints against online lending operators and abusive activities against debtors. The task force works with other agencies such as the PNP-ACG and the National Bureau of Investigation.

The commission said it “has been receiving numerous complaints” against online lending applications for violating various parts of the LCRA.

Meanwhile, some would also complain about abusive debt collection practices, which violate the commission’s Memorandum Circular No. 18, Series of 2019 or the Prohibition on Unfair Debt Collection Practices of Financing Companies and Lending Companies.

So far, the SEC has canceled licenses of 36 financing/lending companies, revoked the registration of 2,081 lending companies for not securing the required certificate of authority, and 72 online lending applications have been ordered to stop operating for their lack of authority to operate as a lending/financing firm.

The commission has also secured the conviction of 74 individuals for violating the LCRA. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

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