In a relentless pursuit of justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has achieved further convictions in the ongoing battle against investment scams.
The recent legal triumph saw the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 158 hand down convictions to six individuals involved in fraudulent activities. Each offender was sentenced to pay a fine of P100,000, along with the possibility of subsidiary imprisonment.
These convictions were rendered after the court found the individuals guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of violating the Securities Regulation Code.
The case stemmed from information received by the SEC’s Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) back in July 2018. The complaint alleged that GDM had organized a seminar within a shopping mall, where speakers enticed the audience with promises of substantial returns, pledging a weekly profit of at least 2.5 percent.
Subsequent investigation by the EIPD corroborated these allegations, confirming that GDM was actively engaged in investment-related activities. Furthermore, the company maintained a presence on social media, particularly on Facebook, where it promoted its ability to pay dividends to shareholders and ensure a steady return on investment.
The SEC emphasized that GDM had neither registered any securities with the commission nor obtained the requisite license to issue mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, proprietary or non-proprietary shares, membership certificates, or timeshares.
To date, the SEC has secured convictions against 33 individuals across 22 cases, leading to a cumulative imprisonment sentence of 712 years and an aggregate fine amounting to P28.4 million.
