“It is a continuing crime. So arrest them and investigate it.”
This is what President Rodrigo Duterte had to say after Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy asked his take on the Kapa Community Ministry International, Inc. (Kapa) during the pastor’s television program Give Us This Day, aired on Saturday, June 8.
The President has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), and the police to investigate these investment schemes and closed them down.
“That is why NBI... sirahan mo na sila... upon my orders,” Duterte said.
He pointed out that what Kapa is offering can be considered a pyramid scheme.
“When it is good to be true, it is fraud. Biro mo, ‘yung P100,000 mo would earn P30,000 a month? Ni bangko na ‘yung Banko Sentral natin magbigay, tres lang porsyento. Ilan ang porsyento ngayon na? Annually ha [sic],” Duterte said.
The President gave a stern warning to Filipinos who are continuously investing in these kind of schemes.
“Eh ito, kayong mga Pilipino, ilang beses ko na kayo sinasabihan? ‘Pag ang -- what is being promised to you is something like heaven, walang tao dito, walang bangko, maski ‘yung Bank of America can afford to pay you P30,000 every month for your P100,000 [sic],” he said.
Duterte also warned that pyramid schemes will shut down in the long run.
“It gets bust. Because sila pa o ito o kasi marami pa, the number is still good. But as the crowd gets thinner kasi nakabigay na lahat, ang ibalik nila kaagad ‘yung 30,000, ibigay ngayon, wala na [sic],” he added.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had recently issued a cease and desist order (CDO) to Kapa for soliciting investments, dubbed by the organization as “donations”, from the public without the necessary license.
SEC also forfeited Kapa’s certificate of incorporation for unauthorized investment-taking scheme. Kapa was registered as a religous organization.
Different investment schemes had also sprouted, mainly in Southern Mindanao.
Earlier, Davao City Business Bureau (CBB) ordered closure to two investment schemes illegally operating in the city without permit, they are Rigen Marketing and Jogle Innovative Marketing. While these are not operating in the city, they are operating in other areas in the region.
SEC had also recently issued a public advisory, cautioning Filipinos from investing in 22 companies they deemed to be suspicious.