14 foreigners, Filipina in stocks fraud rapped

The National Bureau of Investigation filed yesterday criminal charges against 14 foreigners and a Filipina who were arrested the other day in Makati City for allegedly operating a bogus stock brokerage firm.

Charged in the Department of Justice for violation of the Securities Act were Adam McGlashan, 27, of Sydney, Australia; William Canavan, 32, of London, England; Robert Walderman, alias Jonathan Douglas, Canadian, 38; Daniel Newhouse, alias Daniel Stevens, US citizen, 22, and temporarily residing at 22-A Bonifacio St., Plaridel, Angeles City; Jonathan Farber, alias Jonathan Hart, US citizen, 42, of 7912 Makati Avenue, Makati City; Mark Patrick Eduards, Briton 43, of 82-C Olympia Courtyard, Makati City; Nicholas Appleton, alias Charles Bown, 26, of Manchester, England; Nicholas Appleton, alias Charles brown, 26, of Manchester, England; Stuart Rea, 33, of Berkshire, London; Louis Paphitis, 25; Nicholas Start, 20, Briton; Tracy Fisher, Briton 39; Elicia Hebbs, alias Sophie Davis, 28, Briton; and Josephine Duey, Filipina, 38, of 872 Belleza St., Pinagkaisahan, Makati City.

Still at large and now being hunted by the NBI are two more suspects identified as Charles Mowbray and Ted Edwards.

Investigation conducted by the NBI’s International police division under lawyer Ricardo Diaz showed that the suspects had allegedly been operating a bogus international stock brokerage through the Evergreen Consulting Corp. at the 6th floor of the Liberty Center Building along H.V. dela Costa st. in Salcedo Village, Makati City.

According to the NBI , the suspects would contact through long distance calls from their office, well-known stock market players in New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands. The suspects would then introduce themselves as "brokers" of international stock brokerage firms and convince them to invest huge sums in foreign "stocks" which they claimed to handle, with the promise of hefty dividends. – Mike Frialde