Top Aman execs face charges

MANILA, Philippines - Manuel Amalilio and other executives of Aman Futures Group Phils. Inc. are facing another criminal complaint before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

This after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed yesterday charges of violations of Republic Act 8799 (Securities Regulation Code) against officials of the controversial trading firm behind the P12-billion investment scam that victimized some 15,000 people in the Visayas and Mindanao.

In its complaint, the SEC specifically accused the Aman executives of selling unregistered securities and fraudulent transactions in violation of Sections 8 and 26 of the law.

The SEC, which stopped operations of Aman through a cease-and-desist order issued last October for lack of necessary license, named Amalilio and all six members of the Aman board – Fernando Luna, Lelian Lim Gan, Eduard Lim, Willanie Fuentes, Naezelle Rodriguez and Lurix Lopez – as respondents in the charge sheet.

The board members, except Luna, had earlier surrendered to authorities and cooperated in the investigation. They submitted to the DOJ affidavits detailing how their firm operated and where the assets were brought.

In an interview with reporters, Prosecutor General Claro Arellano said the new complaint was referred to the same special panel of prosecutors chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Edna Valenzuela that is investigating the syndicated estafa complaints against Aman.

Also yesterday, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed its second complaint against Aman Futures before the DOJ.

A total of 17 persons were charged with syndicated estafa in connection with the pyramiding scam.

Apart from Amalilio and the six members of the board, also charged were Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co and his wife Priscilla Ann Fernandez Co.

Other respondents were identified as lawyer Isagani Laluna, Abigail Pendulas, Paige Ybanez Madarang, Cheryll Mayol Casinillo, Nimfa Caballero Luna, Dhurwin Wenceslao, Haidee Alfanta, and Cecille Abarquez.

Several “John Does and Jane Does” were also included in the complaint.

According to the investigation conducted by the NBI, Co and his wife engaged in the solicitation of funds from investors which involved huge amounts of money.

The mayor and his wife reportedly utilized his position and even guaranteed that the business was legal.

The investors’ money were reportedly deposited to the bank accounts of Co and his wife, as well as to the accounts of his agents Madarang, Casinillo and Abarquez, while Alfanta monitored their activities.

Placed under watchlist

Meanwhile, incorporators of another company allegedly involved in a fraudulent investment scheme have been placed under a watchlist order by the SEC.

SEC supervising commissioner Manuel Huberto Gaite informed Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office that any movement of the incorporators of Visioner 2020 will be strictly monitored.

In a two-page letter dated Nov. 22, the SEC official said incorporators Felmar Andagan, Glenda Andagan, Efren Gepanao Sr., Evangeline Gepanao and Efren Gepanao Jr. have been put on the watchlist order of the Bureau of Immigration.

This is “in the event that they incorporate or become part of another corporation, partnership or association in the future.”

The case is undergoing investigation by the NBI. 

Gaite said Visioner 2020 International Traders Inc. was registered in October 2012 with the Cagayan de Oro Extension Office of the SEC as a trading company to market all kind of mineral ores, among others.

However, Visioner 2020 does not have a secondary license to sell securities.

On Nov. 20, 2012, the Corporation Finance Department (CFD) of the SEC issued a certification that Visioner 2020 is not a registered issuer of securities pursuant to Sections 8 and 12 of the Securities Regulation Code. It is therefore not licensed to offer or issue securities to the public, Gaite said.

Consequently, the SEC posted at its website an advisory to the public that Visioner 2020 has no secondary license to issue securities.

“At the same time, the extension offices of the commission were also informed thereof. We shall also publish said advisory in a newspaper of general circulation and in a local newspaper in Pagadian City to further warn the investing public of the alleged pyramiding scheme of Visioner 2020,” Gaite said.

“The foregoing are the actions taken by the commission on the alleged activities of Visioner 2020 and we would appreciate your assistance by providing us any information or evidence that will aid us in our investigation of the instant case,” he added.

On Nov. 19, 2012, NBI agents conducted an entrapment operation in Mendoza Building in Tiguma, Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur. The 30-year-old Glenda Andagan and her 10 employees were arrested during the operation.

Seized from Andagan’s possession were firearms, numerous documents and the P30,000 marked money used in the entrapment operation. – With Delon Porcalla, Ramil Bajo, Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude, Aurea Calica, Marvin Sy