DAVAO CITY — Kapa Community Ministry International, Inc. founder Joel Apolinario was arrested in a joint operation conducted in Barangay Handayaman, Lingig, Surigao del Sur on Tuesday morning that also resulted in the death of an unidentified person and wounding of another.
In a report released by authorities, the 46-year old religious leader and 23 other persons were captured at a resort around 7:30 a.m. on July 21, on the strength of a warrant of arrest for syndicated estafa with no bail recommended that was issued by Judge Gil Bollzos of the Regional Trial Court in Cagayan de Oro City.
During the serving of warrant of arrest, an unidentified male person fired at police officers, prompting them to retaliate which resulted in his death and wounding of a certain Melecio Siano, who sustained an gunshot wound in his left leg and was brought to a hospital in Bislig city for treatment.
Police recovered 30 M16 rifles, two M4s, one Garand rifle, three .60-caliber machine guns, one caliber-.50 sniper rifles, three caliber-.22 rifles, a carbine, a shotgun, two rocket-propelled grenade rifles, five caliber-.45 pistols, and several rounds of live ammunition of different caliber.
The Kapa Community Ministry International, Inc. was alleged to have embarked on one of the biggest investment scams in the country that attracted thousands of followers last year, selling unregistered securities in the guise of “donations” and continued doing so even after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had already revoked its certificate of corporation registration in April 2019.
In June 2019, President Duterte ordered the closures of Kapa Community Ministry International, Inc. and other similar investment firms offering huge returns similar to Ponzi schemes and threatened to slap with syndicated estafa the people behind these companies.