PIPC exec shows up at NBI

The general manager of the a foreign trading firm that has allegedly bilked $250 million from its investors showed up at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday and reiterated her claim that she was also a victim of the scam.

Cristina Gonzales-Tuason, a local incorporator of Performance Investment Products Corp. (PIPC), showed up at the NBI-Anti-Organized Crime Division (AOCD) at exactly 10 a.m. yesterday.

She was accompanied by two lawyers, namely Mario Bautista and Gener Ballesteros, of the Poblador Bautista Reyes Law Office. She refused to answer questions from the media and stayed for about 20 minutes at the NBI.

Bautista said his client was “definitely a victim” of Singaporean national and PIPC owner Michael Liew.

When asked if they knew of  Liew’s whereabouts, Bautista said, “We wish we knew...Basta he just disappeared with all the money.”

AOCD chief Assistant Regional Director Oscar Embido said Tuason’s appearance before his office was in compliance to the subpoena they sent her last July 24.

She reportedly asked the NBI to give her five days to file her counter-affidavit to refute the charges. Embido said Tuason has to appear before his office again on Aug. 3.

He said the NBI had opened its doors to PIPC complainants starting last week, but so far only six people have filed formal complaints.

“Many of the complainants come from prominent families and they are hesitant to drag their names into the controversy. That is why they plan to file their cases through their lawyers, through a special power of attorney (SPA) so they would no longer have to come out in the open,” Embido said.

Meanwhile, Regional Director Ruel Lasala, of the NBI-National Capital Region (NCR) chief, said they have set up a public assistance center (PAC) for PIPC victims at the Azure Function Room on the eighth floor of The Pearl Manila Hotel for those who wish to file their complaint in private.

Victims of PIPC could contact their secretariat at telephone number 400-0088 local 3010 and 3011 or cellular phone number 0927-4845883 for inquiries.

Lasala said it is only after they have filed a case that they would be able to freeze Liew’s $2 million account in a bank in Hong Kong.    – Evelyn Macairan