INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MAILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed criminal complaints against four companies for operating unregistered online lending platforms.
The firms were Suncash Lending Investors Corp., UCash Lending Investors Corp., Suncredit.ph Finance Corp., and ECredit Finance Inc., the corporate regulator said in a statement on Thursday.
“The SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department on [Dec.] 20 filed a criminal complaint against Suncash, UCash, Suncredit and Ecredit for failing to disclose its online lending applications, in violation of Republic Act No. 9474, or the Lending Company Regulation Act, and [RA] 8556, or the Financing Company Act,” the statement showed.
Named in the complaints were Qi Lu, the president of Ecredit, Suncash and Suncredit, who was also found to be the beneficial owner of Suncash, alongside Zhu Junfeng. Zhu is also a director of the three other companies.
Also implicated in the complaint were other incorporators, directors, and officials of the companies, including Chang Yuting, Joyclyn V. Pelayo, Chang Tao, Bryan Dordas Pelayo, Jasmin Tabjan Vianzon, Jayson Lee, Meng Jie, Xiaofang Song, Danilo Felicilda, Roger Publico, Yaping Liu, Xianming Tian, Shiling Xu, Xiaobo Pan, Sheila Pagkalinawan and Xiaojing Luo.
The SEC said the Philippine National Police earlier served on Suncash Lending a warrant to search, seize and examine their computers as part of a broader crackdown on unregistered lenders.
Lawful warrant
The Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 147 issued the search warrant upon several complaints received by the SEC and the PNP.
During the service of the warrant, it was discovered that other lending companies — including Ucash, Suncredit, and Ecredit — had been operating alongside Suncash in its offices at Barangay 497 in Sampaloc, Manila.
The joint operation resulted in the arrest of 83 individuals, identified as operators, managers, employees, and agents of Suncash.
Brig. Gen. Joel Doria, director of the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group, said those arrested were caught in the act of sending threats to customers while others were illegally accessing the personal information of their clients and posting libelous remarks on their customers’ social media accounts.
Doria said the lending had an online website that encouraged people to secure small loans, but when borrowers failed to pay on time, the companies’ employees would send threats and humiliating messages to their clients or on their clients’ social media accounts.