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Gatchalian tells DOJ, SEC to fasttrack filing of criminal charges against financial scammers

Gatchalian tells DOJ, SEC to fasttrack filing of criminal charges against financial scammers

By Mario Casayuran The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must work double time in filing criminal cases against big time investment scammers to ensure that they could not easily escape through the country’s sea and airports.

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian (Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian
(SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES / MANILA BULLETIN) Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate economic affairs committee, made the call as he expressed apprehension that Kapa Community Ministry International Inc. founder Joel Apolinario and his cohorts might be able to slip through the immigration nets and deny justice to millions of Filipinos who have been duped by the group. While the DOJ has already issued an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) against eight incorporators and eight officers of KAPA, a court-issued hold departure order is still a more powerful tool in barring Kapa officials from leaving the country with their multibillion-peso loot, he said. Gatchalian said his committee research showed that many investment scammers thrive in the country because few are punished under the 18-year-old Securities and Exchange Code. In the past few years, according to Gatchalian, some big-time investment scammers were able to leave the country because no criminal charges have been filed against and hold orders were issued barring their departure. He cited the case of Manuel Amalilio of Aman Futures Group Philippines who was able to bring with him some P12 billion from thousands of investors in Mindanao. ‘’We do not want more of our countrymen to be victimized by these scams hence the urgent need to fast track the filing of criminal charges against these big-time scammers,’’ he said. ‘’We need to send a message that we mean business in prosecuting the masterminds of these nefarious schemes and giving justice to the victims,’’ he added.

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