SEC issues warning vs. Tonik-Shop

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a warning against investing in Tonik-Shop for allegedly engaging in the unauthorized solicitation of investments without the necessary license from the SEC.

In its latest advisory to the public, the SEC said Tonik-Shop is engaged in a scheme known as “Tasking and Recharging,” where the public is offered online jobs by performing certain tasks with the promise of receiving monetary rewards or commissions.

Once a certain task is completed, the investor will be given another task to perform for the same promise of receiving higher commissions, and where additional funding or recharging from the victim is necessary to withdraw their earnings.

The commission noted that “a Tasking and Recharging Scheme involves the offering and sale of securities in the form of ‘investment contracts’ as defined under Section 3.1 of the Securities Regulation Code.”

It added that “an investment contract exists in Tasking and Recharging Scheme as there is an investment or placement of money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the efforts of others.”

As such, the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) requires that said offer and sale of securities must be duly registered with the Commission and that the concerned entity or its agents should have the appropriate registration or license to sell such securities to the public.

“The said entity also uses a fake certificate of incorporation to make it appear that it is legitimate,” the SEC said.

“The Tasking and Recharging scheme also indicates a possible pyramid or Ponzi scheme, where investors earn through recruitment fees instead of the sale of actual products or services, and investors are paid using the contribution of new members,” said the SEC.