THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has continued alerting the public of groups that offer investment opportunities without license from the government.

The regulator issued separate advisories on its website tagging Norway International OPC; Viceem Help Worldwide/Viceem Help by Millionare Maker Team; Nexus P Capital by GK Marketing Ltd.; and My Profit Robot (MPR) as unauthorized operators of investment schemes.

It said some of these groups have been previously flagged but came back to business carrying new names.

Norway International OPC is a Laguna-based entity that invites investors to start their own businesses by selling soap bars, moisturizers, toners, slimming coffee and detergent soaps. But to earn more, it offers investors with an investment of P1,500 to get P90,000-270,000 in returns through “recruitment, pairing, downline system, and their direct match bonus.”

The SEC said this “ridiculous” rate of return without as much risk is an indication of a Ponzi scheme. This happens when money from new investors is given as “fake profits” to earlier investors. “[A]ny promise that defies the normal financial logic is surely unreliable and sketchy,” it warned the public.

In the case of Viceem Help, the SEC said its operators are the same people behind Azenzo Online — a group that it warned the public against earlier this month.

Like Azenzo Online, Viceem Help operates by promising a 30-100% return on investment within five to 20 days. The SEC noted it is a similar scheme to that of Kapa-Community Ministry International, which it called the country’s largest investment scam in recent history.

Nexus P Capital, which the SEC said is operated by a United States-registered corporation, deals with cryptocurrency and forex trading through its own platforms. It lures investors by offering a “leverage system,” which supposedly allows investors to use only a fraction of their capital in trading while the rest is provided by a broker or agent, and a “trading bonus system,” which discourages investors from pulling their money out of the system.

The SEC also likened Nexus P Capital’s operations to a Ponzi scheme, such that most of its investors lose because of its business methods. It also noted the policies and agreements of the company are written with unclear language as if willfully confusing investors of its actual scheme.

Lastly, MPR was found by the SEC as operating a robot cryptocurrency trading through the platforms BXTCoins and Property Arbitrage. It promises an average daily profit of 1% equivalent to a 365% profit per annum.

To earn more, investors are invited to refer other investors in exchange of a 35% commission on sales. Like in the other groups, the SEC said the investment scheme employed by MPR is similar to a Ponzi scheme as it promises ridiculous rates of return with little to no risk.

As all these groups offer investment opportunities without securing a secondary license from the commission, the SEC said they have violated the Securities Regulation Code. The people behind these groups may be fined up to P5 million, or imprisoned for up to 21 years, or both.

The public is warned to stop investing in the identified companies. — Denise A. Valdez

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