3 Cebu traders lost P100M in pyramid scam, set to sue

Only laborers answer the door of the compound in 99 Espina Village in Cebu City, an address given by Manuel Amalilio, the brains of a high-risk investment scheme that was exposed as a fraud last week.

But at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) office in Cebu, three Mindanao investors said they planned to sue after losing P100 million.

The three Cebu-based businessmen signified plans to file estafa charges against Aman Futures Group Philippines Inc. after being lured into its “double your money” pyramiding scheme.

Ayubkhan Conding, Agakhan Dianalan and Mamad Conding visited SEC Cebu Director Lindeza Gavino on Tuesday to gather documents about the company. They already hired a lawyer to file their complaint.

She assured them the SEC office in Manila was already investigatingthe company which operated mainly in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur.

Dinalan said their relatives also invested in the company of Amalilio, a Filipino trader of Malaysian descent and CEO of Aman Futures Group Philippines.

Dianalan and his relatives invested P30 million. He said the scam was a “painful experience.”

“We’re securing ourselves because we are being chased by our relatives,” he said.

Gavino said the three were the first Cebu-based complainants to see her this month. Last month four people dropped by to ask for copies of the SEC’s Oct. 8 cease and desist order against Aman Futures.

The SEC Cebu received the order on Oct. 16 and posted a copy on Oct. 18 at the Aman Futures office in Keppel Building in Cebu Business Park.

A copy was also sent to the address given by Amalilio in his documents – 99 Espina Village B. Rodriguez St. in Cebu City.

Gavino said some of the incorporators of Aman Futures are based in Cebu.

Only laborers mixing cement were around when Cebu Daily News visited the house yesterday noon.

The workers said they were hired as carpenters for one of the houses being renovated in the compound, which has four houses.

“The owner isn’t here,” said one worker, who identified a former hotel manager who now runs a canteen.

The house closest to the gate has a sign board on the second floor labeling it “Uy House.”

Before leaving, the CDN team saw someone peeping from the second floor of the second house in the compound. Then the window quickly closed.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas announced in Cebu City Nov. 9 that Amalilio was wanted by authorities and that he was coordinating with local police and the NBI- 7 to find him and place his house under surveillance.

Other persons involved in the scam were identified as Lelian Lim Gan, Fernando Luna of Pagadian City, Eduard Lim, Naezelle Rodriguez, William Fuentes and Lurix Lopez. Gan and Lim are relatives, according to the three complaining businessmen. Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus