The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Tuesday it issued a cease-and-desist order against 50K Club/Cryptomarketers for allegedly illegally soliciting investments from the public.
The SEC, in an order dated Jan. 29, also directed company founder Michael Viola and its agents, salesmen, endorsers and representatives from engaging in the sale of securities in the form of investment contracts without the required license.
It said 50K Club/Cryptomarketers is not registered with the commission either as a corporation or partnership. It also did not secure the required secondary license to sell investment contracts to the public, according to the corporate regulator.
The SEC said that based on its investigation, the company lures investors to be part of a community through a subscription package which require minimum investment of $100 to $4,000 (P6,000 to P240,000). Investors were promised hefty return in their investment, ranging from 240 percent to 300 percent, which they would reportedly receive at maturity date.
The company also informed its investors that they would earn between 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent daily and would be entitled to 10-percent referral bonus.
“It is clear that Cryptomarketers business model of advertising of a crypto currency business based abroad which is reliant on ‘subscription packages’ and recruitment and promises high return on investment is not sustainable and can only be carried out as long as new investors continue to come in,” the SEC said in its order.
“This fraudulent scheme of selling/offering unregistered securities in the form of investment contracts operates as a fraud to the public which should be promptly restrained for protection of the investing public,” it said.
The SEC also advised the public against dealing with Meta Advertising Company/Meta Ads Ltd. over its alleged unauthorized solicitation of investments without the necessary license from the commission.
The SEC said Meta Advertising entices the public to invest in the said platform through a so-called “Tasking and Recharging” scheme.
Under the scheme, a prospective investor will be contacted via WhatsApp and Telegram by certain persons purporting themselves to be from Meta concerning an ongoing recruitment for a part-time job.
The part-time job requires a prospective investor to perform certain tasks such as liking and watching videos and joining a group named Meta for the promise of receiving monetary rewards.
Afterward, they will be required to invest a certain amount to earn 60-percent to 80-percent profit for every transaction order completed.
The SEC said such investment schemes or actions indicate a possible pyramid/Ponzi scheme, where investors earn through recruitment fees instead of the sale of actual products/services, and investors are paid using the contribution of new members.
