SEC to agree on Mica Tan, settlement if...

MANILA, Philippines — Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Francis Lim has laid out certain conditions for Maria Francesca Tan and the MFT Group of Companies if they want to patch things up with the commission.

“If MFT and Micah can show us the color of their money to be put in a bank escrow account and a payment plan, we can consider talking to them,” Lim told The STAR.

Lim said equally important to the commission is payment to their investors.

Tan, who is being linked to a massive investment fraud, has been issued a red notice by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

It was the SEC who requested the Interpol to issue a red notice in a bid to bring Tan before the Philippine courts over her alleged role in a large-scale fraudulent investment scheme.

A case buildup by the SEC led to a Department of Justice resolution in May last year, indicting MFT Group of Companies Inc., Foundry Ventures I Inc. and their respective officers for their unauthorized solicitation of investments from the public.

The case stemmed from the complaint filed by the SEC in April 2024, based on complaints it received from investors of the MFT Group, which later transitioned to Foundry Ventures.

The commission has found the MFT Group enticing potential investors to participate in its investment scheme, with the promise of a guaranteed return ranging from 12 to 18 percent of the amount invested.

During her online meeting with creditors last week, Tan, chief executive officer of MFT Group, said resolving the SEC case is her top priority.

“The ultimate objective of mine is to resolve the SEC case, and the only thing that is blocking that is the non-bailable baseless cases that have been filed. Those are the syndicated estafa ones. We will continue working on all legal remedies to get that resolved, so that we can properly also resolve the SEC case,” Tan said.

“I know that can be done, and it requires personally resolving it, and that is bailable,” she said.

The SEC said Tan currently has a standing warrant of arrest issued by Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 70 for violations of Sections 8, 26 and 28 of Republic Act 8799, or the Securities Regulation Code, in relation to RA 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

The commission said a court in Lipa City, Batangas has likewise issued an arrest warrant against Tan in March 2025 for syndicated estafa, with no bail recommended.