Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla ordered the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Task Force on Business Scam to scrutinize closely the complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the owners, officers and agents of the Maria Francesca Tan (MFT) Group of Companies, Inc. and Foundry Ventures I, Inc. for engaging in "illegal investment scheme."
Remulla's directive was issued as the task force started on Tuesday, May 14, its preliminary investigation on the SEC complaint based on the accusations aired by private investors.
After the initial hearing, the respondents in the complaint were given until June 3 to file their counter-affidavits.
Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Peter Ong, who leads the panel of prosecutors, also instructed all the respondents to appear on June 3 and swear to the authenticity of their counter-affidavits.
In his directive to the task force members, Remulla said: “Meticulously uncover every detail surrounding this case, look closely into every angle and if necessary, charge everyone who is proven to have defrauded our precious Filipino investors."
"Investments are the life and blood of our economic sustainability, the immediate resolution of this case is a top priority," he added.
In its complaint filed before the DOJ last April 5, the SEC accused MFT and Foundry Ventures of violating Sections 8, 26, and 28 of Republic Act (RA) 8799, the Securities Regulations Code (SRC), in relation to Section 6 of RA 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
The SEC also accused MFT and Foundry Ventures of violations of Section 54.1(c), in relation to Section 54.2 of the SRC and Section 177 of RA 11232, the Revised Corporation Code (RCC), and SRC Rule 68, in connection with the alleged material misrepresentations in their audited financial statements.
The DOJ said “the SEC has found out that MFT offered 12-18 percent returns to investors through the issuance of postdated checks reflecting a one percent to 1.5 percent monthly interest.”
“Investors were given either a promissory note or borrower-lender agreement as proof of their investment,” it said quoting from the SEC complaint.
However, the DOJ said "all of these were executed without proper documentation and registration with the SEC, making the same as illegal."
In its DOJ complaints, SEC said that the MFT Group of Companies and its officers and directors were also liable for 17 counts of misrepresentations in its 2018 to 2021 audited financial statements (AFS) by reflecting dividend income which has no basis.
Those named as respondents in the complaint are Maria Francesca Tan, Eduardo Tan, Florita Tan, Enrique Eduardo Tan, Charles Edward Tan, Christian Konstantin Agbayani, Maria dela Funete, Philip Tan, Jenna Fuentes, Ronaldo Nery, Halmond Parker R. Ong, Chiqui T. Tan, Jose Donnie B. Montelibano, Romarico S. Ruiz, Arlene M. Navarro, Maria Beatriz Dolores R. Tomas, Mary Ruth A. Oquendo, Joanne A. Cabaero, Thuy Nguyen, Roxanne G. Agbayani, Luis Gabriel R. Cancio Jr., Noel M. Olan, Joselito D. Hernandez Jr., Christian M. Olan, Tito T. Cosejo Jr. Christian De vera,. Jose Carlos R. Cancio, Mae Tan, Martin Choi, Reanne Po, Marta Gilda M. Poursabouri, Alan Madlangbayan, Mildred Madlangbayan, Jeruz Madlangbayan, and Rosanna Vidal.
The SEC also charged Isla Lipana and Co. which served as independent auditor of the MFT Group and Foundry Ventures from 2018 to 2021.
Earlier, the SEC had made permanent the cease and desist order (CDO) it issued against MFT Group of Companies and Foundry Ventures I, Inc., along with their officers and agents. It denied for lack of merit the firms' motion to lift the CDO.