Five Vision Consultancy to close shop in midst of SEC investigation

Suspected "boiler room" firm Five Vision Consultancy Inc. has decided to voluntarily close shop in the midst of a deeper investigation into its operations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Tomas Syquia, director of the SEC’s Compliance and Enforcement Department, said the company’s officials has written the corporate watchdog of their decisions to voluntarily dissolve the firm in a move to "avoid future legal entanglement."

He added that despite the planned closure, the Five Vision officials denied committing any illegal acts, more so engaging in boiler room operations.

"We’re still in the initial stages of our investigation on their operations and we still have to look into the books," Syquia said.

The SEC probe was triggered by a letter-complaint last month from one of the company’s so-called participants who pointed to an alleged irregularity in Five Vision’s operations.

Five Vision was registered with the SEC last Oct. 15, 2001 to primarily engage in management consultancy and financial services, including forex trading.

But based on the complaint, the "participants" in its foreign currency trading scheme are promised a guaranteed "benefit" of 10 percent monthly return on their "participation."

The complainant alleged that their "participation" involves a minimum amount of P50,000 or $1,000 which are then forwarded and traded supposedly in London and Denmark, although the company withholds information to their "participants" on where and what kind of foreign exchange or securities instruments are involved.

The SEC has sent out an inspection order to allow its investigators access to the company’s office and relevant documents such as financial statements, ledgers, or journals to determine if the firm is complying with the Corporation Code and the Securities Regulation Code.

Syquia said once Five Vision has complied with the procedure for corporate dissolution, its investors may then file claims for the return of their investments.

The SEC has been cracking down so-called boiler-room schemes proliferating in the country which have victimized thousands of mostly foreign investors around the world through fraudulent investment schemes.

A boiler room operation basically involves a duly-registered company, using the Philippines as base, employs network marketing and selling of unregistered securities or investment contracts, enticing potential clients with a promise of guaranteed rate of return on their investments.

Once money has been collected from the unsuspecting clients or when there is knowledge that the government is closing in on the illegal practice, these companies then close shop, leaving the investors with nothing, and merely re-open under a different name to resume their operations and scout for other unsuspecting victims.