With most Filipino victims in the Visayas and Mindanao still reeling from the impact of the large-scale Aman Futures Group investment scam, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently stepped up and forewarned the public against investing in three companies which appear to have makings of a possible Ponzi scheme.
Last month, the SEC issued a notice to the public that Ads Zens Broker Corp., Visioner2020 International Traders Inc., and Reyality Investment Corp. appear to be “high-yield, high-risk investment which may turn out as a fraudulent scheme.”
Ads Zens Broker Corporation
Ads Zens Broker Corp., with SEC Registration No. CS201122288, registered with the SEC for the purpose of engaging in direct marketing and providing online marketing and classified ads services. Although this per se does not constitute a fraudulent scheme, the problem lies in the offering of fixed return for investments made into the program.
Genuine investment programs do not and cannot usually promise a fixed rate of return on an investment due to the speculative nature of investments. The program also becomes more suspect if the rate of return is outrageously higher than the current market rates of return. According to the SEC, Ads Zens also does not have the secondary license to sell securities and may thus be engaged in illegal activity by offering investment programs to the public.
Visioner2020 International Traders, Inc.
Visioner2020 International Traders, Inc., on the other hand, was registered with the SEC only on October 2012 as a trading company that will market commodities such as mineral ores and the like. However, the company’s operations are very similar to Aman Futures Group in the sense that people are enticed to “invest” or place money into the program and are promised huge returns for such investment.
The SEC has branded Visioner 2020 as a “possible Ponzi scheme” – an investment program that relied on money from new investors to pay for maturing investments of old investors. (Read more about scam investment schemes: What is a Ponzi scam?)
The SEC also reported that on November 19, the National Bureau of Investigation has raided the office of Visioner 2020 at Chiong Bldg., Benigno Aquino St., Gats District, Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur. Charges will be filed against the owners and officers of the company.
Reyality Investment Corporation
The SEC also issued a warning to the public against dealing with Reyality Investment Corporation, a company with office address at 191 Salcedo St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Although registered with the SEC, the company is prohibited from offering investment opportunities to the public because it lacks the necessary license as required by law.
Those with questions regarding these three companies and other possible Ponzi scams may contact the Corporation and Finance Department of the SEC at Telephone Numbers 584-6103 or 584-5950 or the Enforcement and Prosecution Department at Telephone Number 584-7187.
Investor knowledge is key to avoiding becoming a victim by these fraudulent investment programs. To learn more about other large-scale scams that flourished in the past, head over to our list of Top Investments Scams in the Philippines.
Read also: 7 Tips on HYIP and Online Investing
