A Davao City Regional Trial Court has issued a precautionary hold departure order against all eight officers and board members of the Kapa Community Ministry International Inc. over their alleged involvement in a large-scale investment scam.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Davao City RTC Branch 16 granted the Department of Justice’s motion for the issuance of a PHDO against Kapa officials led by its founder and president Joel Apolinario.
Also covered by the order are Kapa trustee Margie A. Danao, corporate secretary Reyna L. Apolinario and officers Marisol M. Diaz, Adelfa Fernandico, Moises Mopia, Catherine Evangelista and Rene Catubigan.
The DOJ likewise summoned the Kapa officials to a preliminary investigation to answer criminal complaints filed against them.
In a subpoena released last week, the investigating panel chaired by Assistant State Prosecutor Gilmarie Fe Pacamarra ordered the respondents to appear before the DOJ and answer the charges of violation of the Securities Regulation Code filed against them by the Securities and Exchange Commission last month.
The DOJ required the Kapa officials to submit their counter-affidavits in hearings set on July 5 and 15 at 1 p.m.
In its complaint filed June 18, the SEC accused the respondents of perpetrating an investment scam by violating Sections 8 and 28 of the SRC.
Section 8 of the SRC prohibits sale or distribution of securities without a registration statement duly filed and approved by the SEC.
Section 28, on the other hand, prohibits any person from engaging in the business of buying or selling securities in the country as a broker or dealer, or act as a salesman, or an associated person of any broker or dealer unless registered with the SEC.
The regulatory body also found that respondents violated Section 26 of the law that prohibits Ponzi schemes, which offer impossibly high returns and pay investors using the money contributed by other investors.
The SEC said its investigation showed that Kapa and its officers enticed the public to “donate” at least P10,000 in exchange for a 30 percent monthly “blessing” or “love gift” for life, without having to do anything other than invest and wait for the payout.
The investment scheme operated by respondents involved the sale and offering for sale or distribution to the public of securities, in the form of investment contracts.
SEC chairman Emilio Aquino said Kapa “amassed wealth through an investment scam in the guise of religion and at the expense of the investing public.”
The SEC said it already issued an advisory against Kapa’s operations as early as March 2017 and also issued a cease and desist order in February order of revocation of the non-stock corporation’s registration last April.
The commission, through the Anti-Money Laundering Council, also obtained a freeze order from the Court of Appeals on June 4 to preserve some P100 million in assets linked to Kapa.
Based on an investigation conducted by the SEC, Kapa and its officers have at least nine luxury cars and sport utility vehicles, and a helicopter.
The group also claimed to have acquired a hospital, a school, and other properties.
The SEC said it will name more respondents as it identifies other persons who have participated in the unlawful public offering or selling of securities by Kapa.
It also called on victims of Kapa to file charges against the group.
Beleaguered Kapa members said they would stage a “huge” three-day prayer rally in Mendiola, Manila to ask President Rodrigo Duterte to allow the resumption of its operation.
At a news conference in Quezon City, Danilo Mangahas, Ahon sa Kahirapan Movement convenor, and Kapa member appealed to the President to allow them to resume operation so they could be able to return the investments of their 5 million members.
“We will go to Malacañan Palace to knock on the merciful hearts of the President to order the resumption of Kapa operations because our members are requesting for the return of their money,” he told the Manila Standard.
He said their prayer rally would start on Friday and end on Sunday in Metro Manila, while Mindanao-based members would simultaneously hold another prayer vigil in front of the President’s house.
Mangahas said the three-day prayer rally is their last-ditch effort to convince the President to reconsider his decision to shut down Kapa’s operations across the country.
“It has already been close to one month, but not even one has ever surfaced and filed a complaint against Kapa simply because we are not a scam,” he said.
“We could not give their money back because our offices were padlocked. Let’s us operate so they could make use their money,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeals has frozen the bank accounts and properties of yet another company allegedly involved in a a large-scale investment scam.
In a resolution dated June 19, the CA’s 10th Division granted the petition filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council through Solicitor General Jose Calida seeking the issuance of a freeze order against financial assets of Baguio City-based firm Satarah Wellness Marketing.
“There is probable cause that the series of deposits, withdrawals, or investments including related accounts of foreign key personalities or corporations or entities and pieces or property are apparently related to an unlawful activity or a money laundering offense,” read the ruling written by Associate Justice Eduardo Peralta Jr., a copy of which was released to reporters Monday.
Covered by the freeze order are bank accounts of 31 individuals, including officials of the company led by Romyllie Batolne Lau, and entities owned by Satarah.
It also covered the company’s properties in Baguio City and Lingayen, Pangasinan and 11 sports utility vehicles and vans.
The order is effective for an initial period of 20 days as the CA will hear the case July 2 to determine if the freeze order should be extended to six months.
Associate Justices Ramon Garcia and Gabriel Robeniol concurred in this ruling.
Satarah Wellness, which was registered as a sole proprietorship in 2013, has been the subject of numerous complaints about its alleged pyramid scam where it promised a 22 percent return after three months, 5 percent return after 60 days, and referral fees of up to 12 percent from the membership fee of P100,000, which is to be spent on Satarah’s wellness goods.
The SEC had issued the company a cease and desist order as early as June 2015.
Lau was arrested in 2016 by the National Bureau of Investigation over a syndicated estafa case where he and his firm is accused of amassing a total of P1 billion in funds, including P150 million from the Rural Bank of Buguias in Mountain Province.
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