THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has formally filed criminal charges against Kapa-Community Ministry International Inc. (Kapa) officers and promoters over an alleged investment scam.
This was confirmed by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Assistant Director Oliver Leonardo Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020.
Leonardo said DOJ, in the information filed before the Bislig City Regional Trial Court Branch 29, said Kapa “willfully, unlawfully and criminally” engaged in the selling or offering for sale or distribution of securities to the general public without a registration statement duly filed with and approved by the SEC.
The DOJ, last September, initially recommended criminal charges against Kapa and its executives after it found probable cause and liability against Kapa for violation of the Securities Regulation Code.
Leonardo said the Justice Department particularly charged Kapa founder and president Joel Apolinario, Trustee Margie Danao and corporate secretary Reyna Apolinario of violating Sections 8(8.1), 26.1 and 28 of Republic Act 8799, or the Securities Regulation Code (SRC).
The same charges were also filed against Marisol Diaz, Adelfa Fernandico, Moises Mopia and Reniones Catubig.
The DOJ also charged Diaz before the Rizal Regional Trial Court for violation of Section 28, while it filed a similar information against Mopia and Fernandico with the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 93.
An arrest warrant against Fernandico was issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Dec. 2, 2019, Leonardo added.
The charges stemmed from the June 18, 2019 complaint of SEC against Kapa for the unauthorized sale or offering for sale or distribution of securities to the general public.
The SEC said Kapa employed a Ponzi scheme, an investment program that offers impossibly high returns and pays investors using the money contributed by later investors.
The SEC said Kapa collected investments from the public in the guise of a “donation” with a promise of a “30 percent return per month until forever.”
On June 10, 2019, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 and the Philippine National Police confiscated documents from the office of Kapa in Barangay Poblacion, Compostela, Cebu. The move was made two days after a fire hit the said office. (WBS with PR)