BSP, SEC blamed for ‘pyramid scam’

An opposition leader in the House blamed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday for failing to stop a Japanese national from allegedly gypping thousands of Filipinos of their hard-earned money.

Senior Deputy Minority Leader Constantino Jaraula (LDP, Cagayan de Oro City) said the BSP and the SEC have the power to check and stop the "pyramidal scam" perpetrated by a certain Genta Ogami and his G. Cosmos firm.

But they failed to do so, allowing Ogami to victimize thousands of "gullible" Filipinos, he said.

Jaraula said had the concerned authorities not been sleeping on their job, they could have also prevented the collapse of Unitrust Development Bank, a small thrift bank.

He added that shortly before the small bank closed shop, the G. Cosmos owner reportedly bought into it.

The opposition leader noted reports that Ogami has been wanted in Japan for similar questionable activities.

He asked the House committee on banks and financial enterprises to look into the operations of the Japanese and the failure of the Bangko Sentral and SEC to stop them.

"It is imperative that weaknesses in the law or lapses in implementation be determined so that recurrence of the aforementioned activities or schemes will be prevented and Filipinos will be saved from catastrophic losses," he said.

He said there must be a flaw somewhere since some banks have similarly closed shop before and pyramiding schemes have been exposed.

The authorities and the investing public should have learned their lessons from previous get-rich-quick scams, he stressed.

Meanwhile, 11 foreign and Filipino executives and stockholders of Unitrust Bank were placed yesterday in the immigration watchlist on orders of Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo.

Domingo issued the watchlist order against the bank officials upon the request of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas which had stopped the financial institution from doing business in the country.

Placed in the immigration watchlist were Japanese businessman Genta Ogami, Motohiko Hagisaka, Fuginori Tada, Hiyoshi Haneda, Lorena Oba, and Filipinos Winefredo Capilitan, Jose Apolinario, Jr., Daniel Quilatan, Elmer Magpantay, Marcelo Vasquez, Jr. and Evelyn Mansit.

The watchlist order effectively prevents the bank officials from leaving the country without clearance from the BSP which is investigating their possible criminal and civil liability in connection with the bank’s closure.

The 11 bank executives will remain in the immigration’s watchlist for a period of 90 days or until such time that a hold departure order is issued against them by the court or the Department of Justice.

In a letter to the Bureau of Immigration, BSP Deputy Governor Alberto Reyes sought the issuance of the watchlist order to ensure that the interest of the bank’s depositors and creditors are adequately protected.

Reyes said the watchlist order would also prevent the bank officers and stockholders from evading criminal investigation and prosecution.

The BSP official bared that criminal charges will soon be filed against the 11 executives of the bank which reportedly incurred huge liabilities of more than P284.9 million, although its liquid assets amounted to only P63.55 million. – With Rey Arquiza