SEC poises raps vs owners of Tibayan Group

The Securities and Exchange Commission has threatened to file administrative and criminal charges against the owners and directors of the Tibayan Group of companies should they refuse to cooperate with the corporate regulator and investors.

Tomas Syquia, head of the SEC’s Compliance and Enforcement Department, said: " If they are not willing to cooperate with us then we will file criminal and administrative cases against them as a last resort."

Syquia said the Tibayan Group, headed by businessman Jesus Tibayan, had failed to show up at the scheduled hearing yesterday, forcing the CED to refer the case to the Office of the General Counsel, which shall decide whether to make the cease-and-desist order issued against the concerned companies permanent or not.

" We can give recommendations but it’s up to the OGC to decide whether the CDO against the Tibayan Group should be lifted or not,’ Syquia said.

The Tibayan Group, however, said they have been cooperating with the SEC’s investigation by making their books available.

The hearing was intended to give the Tibayan Group due process by explaining why the CDO should be lifted to allow them to continue operations.

The CDO was issued to the group’s mutual fund unit Tibayan Group Investment Co. Inc. and 11 affiliates for selling unregistered securities and illegally promising investors a fixed return on their investment, which is not supposedly a feature of mutual funds.

SEC findings showed that the group offered three to 5.5 percent interest a month for a term ranging from six months to one year. An investor would receive seven post-dated checks, representing the interest and principal. The monthly interest, on the other hand, is deposited to the bank account of the investor.

According to the CED, the group allegedly used numerous front corporations and partnerships to solicit investments from the public, thus circumventing the rule which requires prior registration of securities for issuance to over 19 individuals.

Among the companies covered by the CDO are TG Asset Management Corp., Matcor Holdings Co. Ltd., Jetcor Equity Co. Ltd., Sta. Rosa Management And Trading Corp., Westar Royalty Management and Trading Corp., Starboard Management and Trading Corp., United Alpa Management and Trading Corp., Global Progess Management and Trading Corp., Athon Management and Trading Corp, Diamond Star Management & Trading Corp., and Tibayan Management Group International Holdings Co. Ltd.

The TGICI is 99.7 percent owned by Jesus V. Tibayan who, inturn, contributed 99.99 percent of the partnership capital of Matcor and Jetcor

The investigation was spurred by numerous queries from the public about the legality of the operations of the Tibayan Group.

The SEC has advised investors to group together and file a class suit against the Tibayan Group to minimize litigation costs.

Preliminary SEC estimates showed that the number of investors that have filed claims against the Tibayan Group reached 30,000 and is expected to increase further in the next few days or weeks.

An SEC official said investors of Tibayan have been complaining about bouncing checks since November last year. – Zinnia dela Peña