Depositors storm investment house in Tayabas

LUCENA CITY—They never learned.

Another wave of restive investors swarmed the office of investment company D. Abes Infinity Abundance Marketing (DAIAM) in Tayabas City on Friday to get back their money deposits following the decision of the local government to disapprove its operation.

“Furious investors want to get back their deposits. They were finally convinced that their money would not be safe,” Supt. Ronaldo Genaro Ylagan, Quezon police chief, said Sunday.

Ylagan said the investors were alarmed when the Tayabas City government did not issue the permits for DAIAM.

He said DAIAM investors immediately rushed to its office in Barangay (village) Isabang near the Lucena boundary on Maharlika Highway when word spread that the upstart company could not operate legally due to lack of permit.

Police said the throngs of depositors, some of them on board SUVs and cars, came until late Friday evening to claim their investment.

Ylagan said as of Sunday morning, the

DAIAM headquarter has been totally emptied of office equipment and merchandise display.

When asked where “Dennis Abes,” the operator of DAIAM was, Ylagan said he was spotted inside his office on Friday evening.

Ylagan called on the investors of DAIAM who were unable to recover their investment to go to the Tayabas police station and file formal complaints.

Get-rich-quick scam

DAIAM surfaced two weeks ago on the heels of the get-rich-quick scam of South Luzon Multipurpose Cooperative-Grand

Alliance of Business Leaders Association Inc. (SLMC-Gabai) here that duped thousands of investors of their hard-earned money.

The promised of high interest rate every week attracted thousands of investors from this city and nearby towns.

Surprisingly, most of DAIAM were depositors of SLMC-Gabai, which the Securities and Exchange Commission has declared illegal.

It was learned that Abes was a former SLMC-Gabai official whose concept of a new investment scheme was rejected by Gabai chair Luzardo Lucido, prompting him to put up his own group.

DAIAM investors earlier interviewed by the Inquirer said they were offered a 30-percent interest every eight days for a minimum deposit of P500 and a maximum of P50,000 for every depositor.

Similar to discredited SLMC-Gabai’s investment scheme, DAIAM also offered corresponding “points” based on the amount of deposit. The points earned can also be used to buy assorted merchandise from its suppliers or vendor partners.

Police have filed criminal charges against SLMC-Gabai officials who have gone into hiding.

But some investors were still keeping vigil at the SLMC-Gabai compound in Isabang here, hoping to get back their money.

The SLMC-Gabai compound is located about three kilometers away from the DAIAM office.