More investors file raps vs PIPC

A total of 13 complainants reportedly with P37.5 million investments at the Performance Investment Product Corp. (PIPC) have already filed formal complaints before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Regional Director Ruel Lasala of the NBI’s National Capital Region office said setting up a Public Assistance Center (PAC) for PIPC victims at the Azure Function Room on the eighth floor of The Pearl Manila Hotel is paying off.

So far, there are about 13 complainants against the alleged bogus foreign exchange trading firm, and their combined investment amounted to $750,000 or P37.5 million. Their investment ranged from $40,000, and so far the biggest investment was pegged at P20 million.

On its first day, the PAC saw seven complainants compared to the six complainants who visited the NBI’s NCR office, Interpol Division and Anti-Organized Crime Division (AOCD) last week.

Lasala said they were satisfied with yesterday’s turnout and are contemplating on extending their lease on the function room for another two weeks, but he clarified that this would depend on the volume of complainants.

“We had good results at the PAC. Maybe they are more comfortable going to the PAC because they are not exposed. Some of them are still in a state of shock and are confused because they do not know what to do, what course of action to take,” Lasala said.

He believes that more people, many of them from affluent families, have become more determined to file appropriate charges against the incorporators.

“I think there would be more complainants. I have observed that their behavior toward this situation changed. For the first time I saw that they were decided to pursue the case. They were the ones affected, invested their hard-earned money and they want to fight for their rights and hopefully get their money,” Lasala said.

He explained that by filing charges it could be a ticket for the victims to regain all, or at least some, of their money. Using their affidavits as proof, the bureau could permanently freeze the $2 million stashed in a Hong Kong bank account under the name of PIPC owner Singaporean national Michael Liew.

NBI Interpol Division’s counterpart in Singapore informed them that last July 12, Hong Kong authorities were able to temporarily block the transfer of the $2 million from the Hong Kong bank in HK to a bank in Tokyo, Japan where Liew has another account.

The NBI said those wishing to file complaints against the PIPC can call the PAC at any time of day or night at 400-0088 local 3010 and 3011 or cellular phone number 0927-4845883.

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile has called for a legislative inquiry on the investment scam allegedly perpetrated by the PIPC that has allegedly bilked $250 million from its investors here and abroad.

In filing Senate resolution 46, Enrile said it was necessary to investigate the scam, in aid of legislation, to determine the “machinations used by the PIPC to carry out their scheme and circumvent the law.”

In calling for a Senate inquiry, Enrile noted that the PIPC, a private firm headed by Liew, had victimized private investors who were required to invest a minimum of $40,000 with a guaranteed average of 12 percent return per annum. Liew already fled to Singapore last June 20.

Enrile was concerned that the PIPC, registered at the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) for nine years as a research company, had engaged in foreign exchange trade.

Enrile noted further that while the SEC has taken steps to investigate the PIPC’s operations after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) was swamped with complaints, it ruled that it has no jurisdiction over foreign exchange trading firms since the products they offered were not future derivative instruments.   – With Christina Mendez