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Friday, May 16, 2003
Yaranon warns v. pseudo-investment firms
By Ernie N. Olson Jr.
COUNCILOR Braulio Yaranon has reiterated a warning for residents not to "fall prey to pseudo-investment schemes of various groups that have proliferated in Baguio and in the rest of the Cordilleras" in the past year.
This developed, after one of these groups claimed that they were merely selling subscriptions to cellphone cards, but were not able to present any documented business connection that they may have with any cellphone card company indicating dealership or some other form of agency connection, for public scrutiny.
"This cellphone card subscription scheme is nothing but a swindling operation devised by groups who have thrown all scruples to the wind, in exchange for the millions (of pesos) they expect to take from innocent investors, who put their trust in the promises of these operators," the former vice mayor and retired Regional Trial Court judge revealed.
He pointed out that it does not matter to these operators that the unfortunate investors suffer the loss of hard-earned savings, retirement benefits, and even the foreclosure and loss of properties mortgaged to generate funds for investment in these schemes.
"These operators hoodwink the unwary to invest their money in a non-existent business (involving) cellphone cards with a guaranteed return-on-investment of as high as 22 percent per month. They claim that this would allow an investor to double his money in just four-and-a-half months," Yaranon continued.
"These clever pseudo-investment scheme operators, knowing that the law may catch up with them sooner or later, resort to the cloak of anonymity. They have not applied for any business permit from the local government unit and they have also not applied for registration with the Department of Trade & Industry as well as other government agencies."
Yaranon even claimed that, "the self-appointed spokesperson of one of these groups, in truth, hides under an assumed name."
The alderman also revealed that some of these cellphone card scheme operators have already closed shop.
"They set up the excuse that millions of the invested funds were lost in a hold-up or that a (certain) person was entrusted with millions of the investment funds, but that such a person has absconded. In some instances, the operators simply disappeared," he said.
(May 16, 2003 issue)
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