The Securities and Exchange Commission said over the weekend it secured the conviction of three executives of a lending company for falsifying registration documents.
It said in a statement Pasay Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 47, in a decision dated April 5, found three officials of Dr Verma Lending Corp. guilty beyond reasonable doubt of falsification of public documents in violation of Article 172 (1) of the Revised Penal Code.
The accused—Jelyn Orillo Borja, Uldarico Sahay and Jessie Basarte Borja—were each sentenced up to two years and six months imprisonment and were ordered to pay P100,000 fine.
The SEC filed the criminal case against Dr Verma Lending after it found irregularities in the certificate of bank dposit in the amount of P1 million, purportedly issued by BDO-Pasay Two Shopping Center Branch in April 2017, which the former submitted as part of the requirements for registration with the SEC.
The Certificate of Bank Deposit was made supposedly in compliance with Republic Act No. 9474, otherwise known as the Lending Company Regulation Act, which prescribes a minimum paid-up capital of P1 million for lending companies.
It said that upon verification with the bank, it found that the bank certificates were falsified and BDO-Pasay Two Shopping Center had not issued the certificate submitted by the company.
“As [Jelyn Borja, Uldarico Sahay, and Jessie Borja] knowing fully well that the bank certificate is a requirement and that their corporation does not have the money to put up the same, their reliance on fixers to procure such certification necessarily negates their excuse or purported lack of knowledge over the falsification of the same, thereby making them liable for the act,” the court said.
The conviction of Dr Verma’s officials marks the second victory that the SEC secured against illegal lenders for falsifying public documents under the RPC.
The SEC in March also saw the conviction of officers of Phil86 Gurunanak Lending and Trading Corp. over the same violation.
The SEC said it remains vigilant over the registration and operations of lending and financing companies, as part of the government-initiated crackdown against illegal lenders engaged in a “5-6” scheme and other usurious practices since 2016.
