SEC warns investors against Infinity PAYB

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned the public against dealing with Infinity PAYB/PAYB Bills Payment and Remittance Center, an unregistered entity that has been illegally soliciting investments and promising extraordinary returns.

This entity, owned and operated by one Angel Tambor Doinog Jr., has been engaging in investment-taking activities without authority, the SEC enforcement and investor protection department said in a notice issued on April 29.

Infinity PAYB allegedly entices investors with a “guaranteed” return of 60 percent in 15 days. It also claims to be in partnership with the following companies by giving discounts: Cignal, Globe, Philippine Airlines, Smart, Converge, EasyTrip, SweepRFID, Sky, PLDT, SunCellular, Meralco and Cebu Pacific.

The SEC noted Infinity PAYB was not registered either as a corporation or partnership. However, one PAYB Bills Payment has been issued a certificate of business name registration in 2021 by the Department of Trade and Industry, with a limited business scope confined only to Bacoor City, Cavite province.

Nonetheless, the SEC stressed that Infinity PAYB/PAYB Bills Payment and Remittance Center was not authorized to solicit investments.

To be able to sell securities to the public, the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) requires that these investments must be duly registered and that the concerned entities and/or its agents have appropriate registration and/or license to sell such to the public.

Those acting as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents in selling and convincing people to invest, including soliciting or recruiting through the internet, in the investment scheme may be prosecuted and held criminally liable under the SRC and penalized with a maximum fine of P5 million or a maximum penalty of 21 years imprisonment, or both.

“In view thereof, the public is hereby advised to exercise self-restraint from investing their hard earned money into such high-yield, high-risk investment scheme and to take the necessary precaution in dealing with individuals representing the above-named entity,” the SEC said. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA