Former employees of DV Boer Farm International Corp. (DV Boer) have cried foul against the “made-up” charges filed by company founder Dexter Villamin, who they said “named and shamed” selected individuals on his social media accounts.
In a statement, the ex-employees said such cases were filed to intimidate whistle blowers from the company who had filed statements regarding DV Boer’s “paiwi” system, which they said was riddled with controversy due to delays of return on investments and allegations of corruption and misuse of company funds by Villamin himself.
The paiwi system is DV Boer’s goat farm program, which ventures in animal raising—often with imported cattle—that was marketed as a profitable investment for OFWs and small business enthusiasts in the country.
Villamin has filed cases of qualified theft against former employees Krizza Joy Peracho, DV Boer’s former vice president of operations, along with Abraham Aguilar (operations manager), Randy Macalindol (finance comptroller), and audit staff Alvin Andulan, Carlo Tejada, and Junior Gacula.
Lawyer Argel Cabatbat, the company’s former legal adviser, was also included in the list.
“Said individuals are staff members who had direct knowledge of company operations, finance and liquidity, and disbursement of investments directed to the company,” the group said.
They are also the key witnesses to syndicated estafa cases filed against Villamin by overseas Filipino workers and small investors who claim that they were swindled by DV Boer, and that Villamin has spent their investments on personal expenses.
To date, there are nine cases filed against DV Boer and Villamin in the cities of Makati (3 counts), Taguig, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Tarlac, and San Pedro, Laguna.
Villamin countered by filing qualified theft and syndicated estafa charges against Cabatbat and the ex-employees before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office last March.
The former DV Boer workers said Villamin’s filing of cases against key witnesses “is nothing but a show of force meant to threaten them from speaking the truth and exposing the corruption in the program.”
Numerous investors have come out on national and local media channels to expose the real conditions of their investment, the group said.
In April 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) flagged the Paiwi system, as DV Boer did not have the proper licenses to sell the investment.
While the SEC announcement is yet to be lifted, industry partners and concerned investors have come forward to say that DV Boer still markets this strategy and chasing investor money and has consistently been delayed in promised payouts.
Most OFWs fear that their life savings have been put to waste, the ex-workers said.
Other individuals have reported that they were being harassed on social media and have been receiving threatening messages from anonymous numbers “using lies.”
Neither DV Boer nor Villamin have given a definitive answer to investors who are asking where their life savings went, and when will they receive their money back, the group said.