The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said over the weekend it revoked the corporate registration of Ecomamoni Environmental Recyclable Materials Manufacturing Inc. for allegedly soliciting investments from the public without the necessary permits.
The SEC also ordered Ecomamoni to pay a fine of P1 million for allegedly offering securities to the public without prior registration and license from the regulator. The company and its incorporators were also ordered to pay the same amount as administrative sanctions.
Ecomamoni was found to be enticing the public to invest in the company by purchasing any of its recycling plans, where investors were instructed to press the start button of their chosen plan every day to receive the promised profit, the SEC said.
It also advertised a “long-term platform” where investors were invited to register in exchange for monetary reward upon completing the required task in the chosen recycling plan, the SEC said.
The investment scheme violated Section 44 of the Revised Corporation Code (RCC), Sections 8.1, 26.1 and 28.1 of the Securities Regulation Code and Section 11 of the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act (FCPA), the SEC said.
The SEC said it issued an advisory against Ecomamoni as early as November 2024, cautioning the public against engaging with the group as it was not a registered corporation with the commission and did not have a license to sell securities or solicit investments.
The SEC said that Ecomamoni was registered with the SEC in December 2024 with the primary purpose of engaging in manufacturing recyclable materials and substance in converting waste to energy for related works and activities. It said this did not provide corporations authority to solicit investments from the public.
It said despite this, it received reports that Ecomamoni presented its certificate of registration with the SEC to convince the public of the legitimacy of its operations. It continuously introduced a new scheme with higher participation fees ranging from P600 to P165,000, with the highest daily earning of P7,000, it said.
“To exacerbate matters, the scheme being offered by [Ecomamoni], is clearly in the nature of a Ponzi scheme where the profits or payouts shall be taken from incoming investors or additional pay-ins of existing members-investors, considering that it does not have any underlying legitimate business from where it could source its promised return on investments to its investors,” the SEC border read.