One last chance: ‘Pyramid queen’ faces Senate anew

Today will be the last chance for alleged pyramid scam suspect Rosario Baladjay to come clean at a Senate committee hearing on her reported involvement in a P20-billion investment scheme.

Baladjay is set to be questioned by members of the Senate committee on trade and commerce, headed by Sen. Robert Jaworski, on her alleged activities.

"We will give her one last chance to share with us whatever she can, particularly with some investments which she made in her written statement," he said.

Jaworski added that the Senate committee will file appropriate charges, including perjury, "that could add to whatever problems she has."

Baladjay, who is now detained at the Makati city jail, is the owner of Multitel Corporation and the prime suspect in a P20-billion pyramid scam that victimized more than one million people.

Jaworski has also summoned other pyramid scam suspects to appear in today’s hearing: Ervin Mateo, owner of Mateo Management Group; Ma. Teresa Santos, owner of Maria Teresa Santos Trading; Liborio Elacio, comptroller of the Tibayan Group of Companies; husband and wife Felix and Irish Aquino, owners of the Everflow Group of Companies, a conduit of Multitel; and Gaudencio Macimo, owner of the Lead Lending Corporation.

Mateo, who is in the detention cell of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, was allegedly behind a scam that bilked more than P193 million and $6 million from 950 people.

The Everflow Group, on the other hand, allegedly swindled more than P700 million from its victims while Lead Lending Corporation reportedly collected some P900 million from 1,500 victims.

The Tibayan Group allegedly raked in P505 million and $812,000 from 30,000 investors.