KAPA execs snub DOJ hearing on scam raps

MANILA, Philippines — No one among the officials of Kapa Community Ministry International Inc. facing criminal charges in connection with an alleged investment scam or their lawyers attended the preliminary investigation at the Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday.

DOJ assistant state prosecutor Zenamar Machacon-Caparros said they did not receive any return notice on the summons issued to the respondents.

KAPA founder and president Joel Apolinario, trustee Margie Danao, corporate secretary Reyna Apolinario and officers Marisol Diaz, Adelfa Fernandico, Moises Mopia, Catherine Evangelista and Rene Catubigan, were charged with violation of Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code by the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

SEC enforcement and investor protection department director Jose Aquino said the KAPA treasurer was excluded from the list of respondents as they could have identified “somebody holding the money of the corporation.” 

The SEC submitted the affidavits of two of their witnesses during the preliminary hearing.

The witnesses, among them SEC employees who conducted surveillance on the KAPA officials, will be presented in the next hearing on July 15, the SEC told DOJ prosecutors. 

In a complaint filed on June 18, the SEC said the respondents violated Section 26 of RA 8799 that prohibits Ponzi scheme or an investment program that offers impossibly high returns.

The SEC said KAPA officials enticed its members to  donate at least P10,000 in exchange for a 30 percent ”blessing ”or ”love gift” for life.