SEC steps up campaign vs Emgoldex

MANILA, Philippines - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has intensified its campaign against Emgoldex Philippines, an alleged fraud entity that is not registered to operate in the country.

“This commission has received information about the proliferation of bogus SEC public advisories concerning Emgoldex Philippines that bear the SEC logo or appear to have been issued by the commission or signed by any of its officials,” the country’s corporate regulator said in its recent public advisory.

The SEC last month already issued a warning to the public against investing their money with Emgoldex Philippines which claims to offer huge returns for every investment.

Despite the earlier notice, however, fake SEC public advisories from Emgoldex Philippines have continued to surface.

 “Any public offering or solicitation of investment in the Philippines without the prior license or permit from the SEC is strictly prohibited by law and may be penalized by imprisonment and/or fine,” the corporate regulator said.

 “There is no distinction whether the investment offering is made through the Internet or in a commercial or public place as long as the investment solicitation is indiscriminately offered to the public in general within this jurisdiction,” it said.

The SEC reiterated that based on its existing records, Emgoldex is not a registered corporation or partnership in the Philippines.

Thus, the agency said the entity is not licensed or authorized to solicit investments from the public in the country.

 “With regard to the claim that Emgoldex is a registered entity in foreign countries like Germany, Dubai, Cyprus, and elsewhere, it is still not allowed to conduct investment solicitation activities in the Philippines without first securing the required registration and license from the SEC,” it said.

The SEC said that any person who is acting as an agent, salesman, investment solicitor, promoter, endorser of investment solicitation for and in behalf of Emgoldex is required to secure an appropriate license.

The SEC’s attention was called last month after receiving reports that Facebook users are being invited to invest their money in Emgoldex Philippines’ investment scheme called “Pinoy Style Patak Patak.”

Emgoldex Philippines is luring the public to invest for a promise of high returns where an investment of P1,000 would earn profits ranging from P5,000 to P10,000 or a placement of P35,000 would yield P180,000 to P360,000.