SEC wins case vs illegal investment firm

A local court has convicted three officers of RJF Construction and Development Corp. —an entity that posed as a property developer and promised hefty interest rates to lure people into entrusting their hard-earned money—of illegal investment solicitation.

In a 13-page decision dated Nov. 27, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 90 found Rolando Pascua Jr., Celia Pascua and Mary Jane Recto “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” of violating section 8 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC), or Republic Act No. 8799. They were sentenced to pay a fine of P2 million albeit without any jail time.

Based on court documents, there were five persons originally accused of illegal investment-taking. One of them, Henry Recto, was acquitted based on “reasonable doubt.” Another accused, Rebecca Pascua, passed away during the pendency of the case.

“Winning cases against perpetrators of fraudulent investment schemes affirm the (SEC’s) commitment to holding them accountable for their actions against our fellow Filipinos,” SEC Chair Emilio Aquino said in a press statement on Monday.

“The SEC will remain steadfast in its mission to protect investors and educate the public about these types of scams so that moving forward, no more Filipinos would be duped of their hard-earned money.”

The case stemmed from affidavits filed with the SEC on Sept. 14, 2009, by 22 investor-complainants. RJF, which claimed to be a land developer accredited with the Home Development Mutual Fund (also known as Pag-IBIG Fund), was accused of hawking an investment scheme with a guaranteed interest rate of 5 percent a month, or 60 percent a year.

The investors were allegedly given post-dated checks as proof of their investments as well as other documents such as original copies of land titles that served as security for the loans.

RJF had issued a total of 16 promissory notes, supported by multiple post-dated checks, to the complainants. The proceeds were purportedly set to be used to finance RJF’s Pag-IBIG housing project worth about P2.5 billion, equivalent to 1,016 low-cost housing units worth about P200,000 each. INQ