Cebu City Hall cancels business permit of Aman Futures

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama yesterday ordered the cancellation of the business permit issued to Aman Futures Group.

He  also promised to assist any Cebu-based victims of the investment scam who come out and file a complaint.

Aman Futures had an office in the Keppel building in  Cebu Business Park but it closed their office  shortly after the scam became public.

Manuel Amalilio, the CEO of the company,  99 Espina Village B. Rodriguez St. in Cebu City as one of his addresses but could not be found there when investigators were sent earlier this month.

Rama’s offer to help is similar to what his office did early this year when it facilitated a meeting between Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas representatives and depositors of a local bank that declared a bank holiday due to financial problems.

The mayor said there was nothing wrong in issuing  a business permit to the Aman Futures group  at the time.  He said  local governments normally issue business permits to applicants  as long as they comply wth requirements and pay the corresponding fees.

A review process follows to  determine whether there was any irregularity or negligence on the part of City Hall.

“The question is whether there were  people who were complacent in doing this,” he said.  “Other  business start out legitimate  but in the end it becomes  monkey business.”

Rama repeated  warnings of financial experts  to be cautious about investment schemes that offer very high returns.

“If it’s too good to be true, you should start to be skeptical and ask questions,” Rama said.

The pyramiding scam of Aman Future which may involve P12-billion with at least 15,000 investors is considered the biggest in the Philippines. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief of Reporters with INQUIRER