SECURITIES and Exchange Commission (SEC) advised public to exercise caution before investing in Unlishop E-commerce Advertising System Company, an online marketplace.
The agency released Friday, June 28, 2019 an advisory after receiving information about Unlishop enticing the public to invest “by selling online account codes and recruiting other individuals to join the investment scheme”.
“Those who invite or recruit other people to join or invest in this venture or offer investment contracts or securities to the public may be held criminally liable or accordingly sanctioned or penalized in accordance with the Supreme Court decision,” it stated.
The company is registered as a partnership of Hector John Hemady Dollero and Ryan Guerrero Hemady which operates in the business of buying, selling, advertising of products on online services or over the internet, and as an “online marketplaces which process third-party business-to-consumer or consumer-to-consumer sales.”
SEC, however, emphasized that it is not authorized to solicit investments from the public as it did not secure a license to do so.
Among the information gathered by SEC on the entire investment scheme include buying to the recruiter an activation code worth of P1,000 per account; receiving P1,000 as a welcome one-time reward ; downloading one e-book per day for a maximum of 10 days and collect P1,000; direct and indirect referral bonus; and profit-sharing.
“The public is hereby warned that such investment schemes are considered as securities subject to the regulatory authority of this Commission. The recruitment of investor members under the guise of sponsoring a person into the system or platform is likewise considered a form of investment solicitation or a sale of securities,” SEC said.