SEC sues illegally operating online lending platforms
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed raps against Suncash Lending Investors Corp., UCash Lending Investors Corp., Suncredit.ph Finance Corp., and ECredit Finance Inc. for operating illegal online lending platforms.
The SEC's Enforcement and Investor Protection Department filed a criminal complaint against Suncash, UCash, Suncredit and ECredit on December 20, 2022 for allegedly "failing to disclose its online lending applications (OLA), in violation of Republic Act No. 9474, or the Lending Company Regulation Act (LCRA) and Republic Act No. 8556, or the Financing Company Act (FCA)."
Included in the raps were Qi Lu — president of ECredit, SunCash and Suncredit — and Zhu Junfeng, a director in the three other companies apart from SunCash.
Also sued before the Department of Justice were the following incorporators, directors and officials of the lending companies:
- Chang Yuting
- Joyclyn Pelayo
- Chang Tao
- Bryan Dordas Pelayo
- Jasmin Tabjan Vianzon
- Jayson Lee
- Meng Jie
- Xiaofang Song
- Danilo Felicilda
- Roger Publico
- Yaping Liu
- Xianming Tian
- Shiling Xu
- Xiaobo Pan
- Sheila Pagkalinawan
- Xiaojing Luo
SEC's EIPD — aided by the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group and units of the Eastern and Manila police districts — raided the SunCash office in Manila after Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 147 issued a search warrant prompted by complaints that had been filed before the SEC and the PNP-ACG.
It was discovered during the search that other lending companies — including UCash, Suncredit, and ECredit — had been operating alongside Suncash in its headquarters in Sampaloc, Manila, the SEC said.
At least 83 people — identified as operators, managers, employees and agents of SunCash — were booked after the raid.
The SEC said that it found that SunCash operated unregistered online lending platforms despite the mandatory disclosure of these OLPs to the commission. SunCash had been operating unregistered OLPs SunCash, FlashLoan and Peso Pautang despite saying in its affidavit of compliance that SunCash was the only lending platform that it had.
The SEC's EIPD said that SunCash operated the unregistered OLPs "to circumvent and defy the moratorium imposed on the registration of new OLPs effective November 5, 2021, as per SEC Memorandum Circular No. 10, Series of 2021."
SEC also said that the four companies "engaged in abusive, unethical, and unfair debt collection practices, in violation of SEC Memorandum Circular No. 18, Series of 2019, or the Prohibition on Unfair Debt Collection Practices of Financing Companies and Lending Companies."
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