LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Six residents in this capital town recently filed criminal charges against thirteen individuals for allegedly enticing them to invest their hard-earned money with a promised incredible return of investment which turned out to be too good to be true that resulted to financial losses to them.
In a complaint filed before the Benguet Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, those charged for alleged syndicated estafa were Jenelyn Galletes de Los Santos Floresca, Raffy Palangdan Floresca, Jaquelyn Melchor, Dexter de Los Santos Tampoa, Jovielyn Mina, Jinky de Los Santos Lontoc, Jamir Isaac de Los Santos, Justine Nichole Arenas, Jayden Daniel Arenas, Jeruck A. Sardenas, Maricel Castillo Curameng, Karen Galletis Malonzo and Janice Gopida who are said to be officers and members of Casa Infini and Developers Corporation (CIDC) and the Casa Infini Builders and Realty Co Ltd (CIBRCL) which was closed last year by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after it found out that the corporation was conducting a Ponzi-like scheme and the unlawful sale of securities without the required secondary license.
The Commission en banc issued the cease and desist order against Casa Infini on June 8, 2023 subsequent to findings by the SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) that the company and its officers were illicitly vending securities in the form of investment contracts.
The six complainants in their common statements of fraud alleged that after they have given their money to the group, they found out that the representations and promises of return on investments of 3% to 4.8% are all allegedly fraudulent.
They stated that respondents are not registered brokers of securities with the SEC; the CIDC and the CIBRCL do not have secondary licenses to raise investments from the general public, the agreements and contracts are not registered with the SEC and after the raid conducted by law enforcers against the Casa Infini in one of its activities in June last year, the respondents have difficulties in giving pay-outs. “In other words, the investment scheme is a giant PONZI scheme,” stressed in the statement.
The complainants disclosed that despite their numerous pleas, the respondents failed to return their money.
In a statement in its Cease and Desist Order against Casa Infini last year, the SEC said Casa Infini enticed the public to invest in their alleged real estate projects in Baguio City either as a buyer-investor or as partner.
According to the SEC, it found the firm promising a guaranteed income of more than PhP33,000 per month for 20 months, with the company assuring the public that the investments collected were supposedly financing the real estate properties that it owned, managed and operated.
The complainants from the capital town are just some of the alleged embattled investors of the corporation who were reportedly duped into investing their hard earned money in exchange for the promised huge gains in their investments that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme as the company was not issued the requisite secondary license to solicit investments from the public pursuant to existing laws, rules and regulations. By Dexter A. See
