15, including 2 party-list nominees, charged for P1.6B scam

MANILA — The National Bureau of Investigation has filed syndicated estafa charges in connection with a P1.6-billion scam allegedly perpetrated by officials of an investment company, including two nominees of a party-list group running in this year’s election.

Aside from syndicated estafa, the NBI-National Capital Region office also filed cases of violations of the Republic Act No. 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code and the Batas Pambansa Blg. 22 or the Bouncing Checks Law against officials of the Quezon City-based Hyper Program International (HPI) Direct Sales and Trading Corp.

Named respondents in the cases were HPI board chair Darlito dela Cruz and president and treasurer Queen Ashely Ablan, who are also the first and second nominees of the Tanggol Maralita, a party-list group running in this year’s elections. Ablan is reportedly a niece of former Ilocos Norte governor and congressman Roque Ablan.

Other respondents were Aida-Lyn Gabriel, Arleen dela Cruz, lawyer Anthony Purganan, Ernesto Lee Pinere Jr., Jeaun Christopher Tolsa, Joycel Cruz, Angelita Basbas, Mary Jane Terrible, Bernadette Villapaz, Mark Anthony Ballestero, Maythan Mutada Akbar Abbas and Mohammad Murtada Akbar Abbas.

Reports reaching the NBI said the scam allegedly perpetrated by the HPI and its sister-companies victimized up to 16,000 people, many of them overseas Filipino workers and foreigners based in the Middle East.

The cases filed by the NBI-NCR before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office pertained to the complaint of Ashraf Mohamed Abdelrahman Akl, an Egyptian businessman residing in Kuwait and the Philippines and is married to a Filipino.

“They (HPI officials) said they have lots of companies engaged in asphalt production, construction, fishponds, farms and that they were even developing subdivisions and that they set up a call center. They showed us videos,” Akl told reporters in an interview at the Department of Justice.

“I want to know who is behind this man and who is protecting him,” he said, adding that Dela Cruz, only 24 years old, could not have done the alleged scam by himself.

NBI-NCR director and lawyer Max Salvador said separate complaints against HPI officials have been filed before the agency’s anti-fraud division; others have been filed directly before the QC prosecutor’s office and have been undergoing preliminary investigation.

Akl said he and his wife, who live in Balagtas, Bulacan, were introduced by a real estate agent to the HPI scheme sometime in April. They later met Dela Cruz, Ablan and other respondents who allegedly induced them to invest in HPI’s asphalt and construction businesses.

The businessman said HPI offered an attractive 15-percent return for peso investments and 16-percent return for dollar investments after six months. He said he initially invested P15 million and US$300,000.

Later, Akl said he executed memorandum of agreements with Dela Cruz, Ablan and coordinated with HPI representatives in Kuwait. He said HPI who issued him 17 post-dated checks from October to November for a total of P31.849 million for earnings of their investment plus original capital.

However, Akl said he and his wife were unable to withdraw their earnings as the checks were dishonored due to the closure of the accounts of the HPI. They said they made repeated demands to Dela Cruz and Ablan to settle their obligations but these were unheeded. Akl said Dela Cruz sent him a text message a few weeks ago offering a settlement but this did not materialize.

The couple said they later found out from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s corporate finance department that HPI had no secondary license to solicit investments from the general public.

The NBI also learned that the SEC issued an advisory as early as May 2015 stating that HPI has been conducting without authority an online investment scheme, using social media such as Facebook, and promising as much as 30 to 35 percent of returns on investment in a span of 40 to 45 days.

In November 2015, the SEC issued a cease and desist order prohibiting HPI from offering or selling unregistered securities to the public and through the Internet.

The NBI has also revealed that Dela Cruz has a pending case of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property before the Bocaue, Bulacan municipal trial court and has been put on the Bureau of Immigration’s watchlist.  SFM