Non-bail estafa raps await pyramid king

He’s lying low but not out of sight.

The man behind the “double your money” scheme that has victimized over 10,000 investors in the Visayas and Mindanao appears on YouTube asking  investors to be patient. He promised to do his best to return their money “in one or two years.”

“Please forgive me for the late action  since  I want to prioritize my safety first before finding solution to the problem,” said Manuel  Amalilio, chairman and CEO of Aman Futures Group Philippines.

The video was posted six days ago by “nicholastse999” according to the YouTube entry or shortly after Interior Secretary Mar Roxas announced in Cebu City on Nov. 9 that Amalilio was wanted by the police and had a house in Cebu City placed  under surveillance by the National Bureau of Investigation.

A complaint for large-scale estafa is being prepared against Amalilio, a Filipino trader of Malaysian descent, said NBI – 7 supervising agent Rennan Agusutus Oliva.

The offense is non-bailiable, which explains Amalilio effort to stay out of the limelight.

Oliva said authoriites are just waiting to the court to issue an arrest warrant against him and other respondents.

“We urge those who may have been victimized by this kind of scam to come to our office. They worked hard for their money only to be taken away from them,” Oliva told reporters.

He said complaints will be forwarded to the NBI central office in Manila since the Department of Justice is preparing  the complaints.

“All offices of the NBI across the country are also willing to accept complaints,” Oliva said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission last Oct. 8 ordered Aman Futures, a Pasay City-based firm with operations in Pagadian City, to stop offering unregistered securities to the public.

Under the pyramiding scheme, investors made money placements with Aman Futures with a pledge by the firm to return, through post-dated checks, the original amount with as much as 40 percent interest.

More hoodwinked investors are coming out to complain about the “double your money” scheme of Aman Futures Group Philppines Inc.

It was hard to resist the offer.

Mindanao-based businessman Ayub Conding invested P150,000 in August in Pagadian, Zambaonga del Sur.

After 17 days, his money increased by 63 percent.

Delighted with the return, Conding said he put in up  to P7 million. Then the investment office in Pagadian shut down and his money was gone.

Conding came to Cebu City to speak to representatives holding office in the Keppel Building in Cebu Business Park.  But the Aman Futures office ceases to operate three days after.  That’s when Conding went to the NBI  in Central Visayas.

He is among at least 10 Cebu-based individuals who filed a complaint against Aman Futures led by its chairman and CEO Manuel Amalilio.

The NBI said these investors lost a total of P106 million.

Conding confirmed that the man in the YouTube video was Amalilio.

Other persons in the company were identified as Cebuana Lelian Lim Gan, Fernando Luna of Pagadian City, Eduard Lim, Nezelle Rodriguez, William Fuentes, and Lurix Lopez.

The NBI traced Amalilio’s address to 99 Espina Village located along B. Rodriguez Extension in Cebu City but the CEO was nowhere to be found.

As early as Aug. 7, the SEC posted  a notice to the public warning about a firm operating in Pagadian City.

At the time, Aman Futures was not named in the notice.

“The public is reminded to be over-cautious or exercise prudence in investing their money in what appears to be a high yield- high risk investment which may turn out to be a fraudlent scheme,” said the SEC.

It posted a telephone number for the public to make inquiries:  584-6103 nd 584- 5950./REPORTER Ador Vincent Mayol