Mayor recounts how he and his constituents succumbed to allure of quick money

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Mayor Samuel Co of Pagadian City said Wednesday he repeatedly warned his constituents about investing in a deal he described as “too good to be true,” but the allure of quick money was too strong to resist and they succumbed to it.

In fact, the mayor told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview Wednesday, he himself invested P2 million in the operations of the Pasay City-based Aman Futures Group Phils. Inc., hoping to use the earnings in next year’s elections.

“I have repeatedly warned them, but they still took their chances,” Co said, adding he did make a placement of P2 million.

“I learned that my political enemies have also invested. I was planning to use the money to support the barangay (village) officials in next year’s elections,” Co said. “Now, the money’s gone.”

Co, whose family runs several businesses, said entries in the computers used by Aman showed it had concluded at least  360,000 transactions but he could not tell exactly how many people had been victimized as “some of the victims had multiple transactions.”

Co estimated that in his city alone, some 120,000 transactions ranging from P5,000 to million of pesos in investments were made.

Aman Futures started operating in Pagadian City in March, and by May it had lured many residents to invest.

As early as April, Co said, he warned residents to be cautious in investing. “I told them that the scheme was too good to be true. But still, they took their chances.”

Early on, he said, many investors reported savoring unusually good returns.

“There were at least 200 brand new cars roaming around the city,” he said. “Who wouldn’t be enticed to invest? Just imagine your P10,000 earning P3,500 or your P100,000 earning P25,000 in eight days.”

In June, Co said, the authorities started going after the firm because it was operating without a permit.

“We ordered the police to make arrests, but nothing happened,” he said, explaining that most policemen had also invested in Aman Futures.

This, the mayor claimed, forced him to issue a temporary permit, but supposedly only to give the company time to pay its investors and not to take any more investments.

“Our dilemma was that if we went after the firm, we would also be going against our constituents,” he said. “Again, I advised the people to be extra careful in investing their money.”

But in September, the firm’s magic began to wane and the promised riches turned to dross as more and more people complained about bouncing checks.

On September 27, Aman Future’s office in the residential village of Kawit closed down and its staff, led by Fernando “Nonoy” Luna, were nowhere to be found.

Luna’s boss, Manuel Amalilio, a 32-year-old Malaysian, is reported to have already left the country. Co said  Amalilio was now in Kota Kinabalu in east Malaysian state of Sabah.

Co said Dr. Rico Medina, an Ozamiz City businessman victimized by the firm, claimed seeing Amalilio in Kota Kinabalo a week ago.

“Dr. Medina called me up immediately after his confrontation with Amalilio, saying that his group was outnumbered by Amalilio’s security escorts,” Co said.