SEC asks BI to issue hold departure order vs MMG execs

The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked the Bureau of Immigration to issue a hold-departure order against the owners and officers of Mateo Management Group (MMG) to prevent them from evading charges.

An SEC official said a hold-departure order is necessary to keep MMG officers from fleeing the country and hold them accountable for the losses suffered by aggrieved parties. MMG is headed by Ervin Mateo, an engineer.

Listed as other shareholders of MMG are Evelyn Mateo, Galileo Saporsantos, Carmelita Galvez, Romeo Esteban, Brenda Baarde, Nenita Saporsantos, Tirso Petil, Emma Sacro and Estella Ledesma.

The SEC also announced it would resume accepting complaints from the public due to mounting requests from nagging investors of MMG. The commission earlier decided to stop accepting complaints from MMG investors to enable the corporate watchdog agency to file its own complaint with the courts.

The SEC has been deluged by complaints from disgruntled investors of MMG, who claimed that the pseudo-investment firm failed to pay promised interests and return principal investments back.

MMG offers an annual interest rate of 36 percent for a minimum investment of P50,000. Its head office is located at the Madrigal Business Park in Ayala, Alabang.

MMG (formerly known as Mateo Management Group Holding Co.) was issued a cease-and-desist order on April 1, 2002 for selling unregistered shares in violation of the Securities Regulation Code. The firm’s motion to lift the CDO was denied by the SEC on April 18, virtually making the order permanent.

Despite the existing CDO, MMG reportedly continues to accept investments from the public, most of them located in Cavite, Ayala Alabang, Bacolod, Baguio, Batangas, Bulacan, Cagayan de Oro, Cainta, Rizal, Dagupan, Pampanga, Davao, Iloilo, Las Piñas, and Albay.

MMG also has clients from San Diego, California USA, Hong Kong, and Brunei.

Prior to setting up MMG, Mateo was part of the Tibayan Mateo Compact Group until he severed his ties in 2000 due to a disagreement with his partners.

Mateo has various businesses ranging from gasoline service to real estate development (Mateo Realty). This was the reason why thousands of investors had been lured into MMG’s investment scheme, believing that Mateo’s assets would be more than enough to cover their investments.

Mateo also has investments in restaurants (Spectrumzone), cemeteries (St. Matthew’s Memorial Garden and Calatagan Memorial Cemetery), hotels (MMG Hotel), appliance store (Compact Appliance Store), rural bank (Rural Bank of Lipa), skin care services and beauty consultancy (Lady-E Salon and Syarikat Roslinah), pawnshop (MG Panwshop), cinema complex and department store (MMG Mall), and golf course and waterfront facilities (Iloilo Waterfront & Yacht Club).

Apart from this, Mateo is also engaged in financial services, construction, shipping, trading, motorcycle sales, air charter services, and film and TV production.

In addition, Mateo has a 24-hour convenience store, computer school, purified drinking water firm, travel agency, maternity hospital, and medical clinic and a promotion and advertising firm.