Duterte orders crackdown on get-rich-quick scams

DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday ordered the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation to shut down get-rich-quick scams that are proliferating in Mindanao.

The President said there were many investment schemes in Mindanao that clearly constituted syndicated estafa.

“That is ‘pyramiding.’ That is why you shut them down and haul them [to court],” he said.

Several investment scams have sprouted in Mindanao, including the Kapa-Community Ministry International Inc., headed by a certain Joel Apolinario, which promises a 30-percent  monthly return.

Other companies, such as the Tagum City-based Rigen Marketing, Jogle and Ever Arm, even promise a return of up to 500 percent after three months. —Orlando B. Dinoy