Rigen Marketing officials jailed for investment fraud

MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has scored victory against a company found to have committed fraud against the public by soliciting investments illegally.

The SEC said officers of Tagum City-based Rigen Wellness Product Marketing have been sentenced to life in prison for syndicated estafa.

The Tagum City Regional Trial Court Branch 2 ruled that the company perpetuated a grand scheme to defraud its victims.

It convicted officers of Rigen Marketing for the crime of syndicated estafa in two criminal cases dated April 11 and May 2 based on earlier findings of the SEC.

The SEC warned the public against investing in Rigen Marketing as early as May 2019 and subsequently issued a cease and desist order the following month, directing the group to stop engaging in investment solicitation activities unless it secures the necessary licenses from the SEC.

However, Rigen Marketing did not secure the necessary licenses and went on to solicit investments from the public.

As a result, the court sentenced Rigen Marketing’s officers to the penalty of life imprisonment alongside payment of actual damages totaling P2.01 million and moral damages amounting to P120,000, plus an interest of six percent per annum.

The cases stemmed from the complaints of two individuals who were enticed to invest in Rigen Marketing.

The complainants, who sought the help of the SEC, were promised by the company income returns of up to 400 percent within a span of 30 days.

Rigen Marketing claimed that profits were generated from investments in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange trading.

In its decision, the Tagum court said fraud has been committed.

“It has been held that where one states that the future profits or income of an enterprise shall be a certain sum, but he actually knows there will be none, or that they will be less than he represents, the statements constitute an actionable fraud where the hearer believes him and relies on the statement to his injury,” the court said.

The court noted that Rigen Marketing officers employed fraud when they pretended to have the authority to solicit investments from the general public but did not have such authority.

“[T]he promised high-yielding venture was unsustainable, as Rigen Marketing was not really engaged in any legitimate business,” the decision read.

The SEC is actively prosecuting 375 individuals in 56 cases for violations of Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code, and three cases for violations of the Revised Penal Code.

According to Section 1 of Presidential Decree 1689, an additional punishment of life imprisonment for the crime of estafa is slapped on individuals if the defraudation results in the misappropriation of money solicited by corporations or associations from the general public.