BIZ BUZZ: Delayed titles, unhappy homeowners
Trouble is brewing at the Quezon City residential complex of the Antonio family’s Century Properties Group Inc.
A small group of angry homeowners are complaining about extremely long delays in being given their condominium certificates of title at Century’s The Residences at Commonwealth despite the units being fully paid.
The title is crucial since this certifies ownership of units that were purchased.
But hearing no clear answer from the building’s management, one of the homeowners told Biz Buzz they were starting to worry if this was connected to the unusual case involving the ownership of the 4.4-hectare land that The Residences at Commonwealth was built upon.
The owner of the land, as advertised in an old marketing brochure of Century that Biz Buzz found, was a corporation called AZ 17/31 Realty Inc. while Century’s middle income-focused subsidiary, Century Limitless Corp., was identified as the developer.
This was like any other land owner-developer venture, which usually plays a big part in the growth strategy of nearly all major real estate players in the country.
What was not typical was the fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the registration papers of AZ 17/31 in 2017.
This was after the SEC discovered that one of the incorporators, the family matriarch, had died years before the company was registered in 2008, which to the corporate regulator was a clear act of fraud.
The homeowners’ group said they just wanted clarity on the status of their units. They were also hoping they would not have to resort to any legal action.
Biz Buzz has been asking Century for its formal comment since the latter part of March this year but—similar to what the homeowners experienced—no clear and definitive answers have been given thus far.
—Miguel R. Camus
Another rogue banker
Biz Buzz recently got hold of confidential information involving a seemingly rogue banker (working for a large local financial institution) who has successfully separated over P20 million from at least two victims.
Word on the street now is that the scammer may have been able to victimize others and make off with as much as P100 million. And here’s the thing: apart from being a ranking bank official, the scammer is also a “she.”
How is this scam perpetrated? This rogue banker, along with a number of suspected coconspirators, has apparently been engaging in illegal banking practices by enticing victims to park their funds in so-called Special Peso Time Deposit accounts.
But instead of putting the victims’ funds in the offered investment facility (which doesn’t exist), this scammer deposits the money in her own personal bank account.
As soon as the victims started looking for their money, this rogue female banker flew the coop, and Biz Buzz heard she recently took a commercial flight to Tokyo, Japan, after which the trail went cold. Her whereabouts are currently unknown.
Incidentally, the funds—originally deposited in one bank—were found to have been transferred to another financial institution within hours, and were soon after withdrawn.
In addition to going after the rogue banker who is now nowhere to be found, the victims are considering filing charges under the Anti-Money Laundering Act against the banking institutions involved. Watch this space, folks.
—Daxim L. Lucas
Best workplaces
Professional networking site LinkedIn recently revealed its second annual ranking of the 15 best companies to work for in the Philippines.
The honor roll was topped by mobile phone provider Smart Communications, followed by Accenture, Shell, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Emerson (an automation solutions provider) and BDO Unibank. Water concessionaire Manila Water, Nestle and WPP also made the cut.
Despite the challenges faced by medical front-liners during the prolonged pandemic, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) also landed on the list, the only state-owned institution in the roster, as it ranked 10th place. PGH is Metro Manila’s main COVID-19 referral hospital.
Ranking 11th to 15th are as follows: Insular Life Assurance Company Ltd.; Robinsons Bank Corp., San Miguel Corp., as well as DXC Technology and Cognizant, both of which are IT consulting firms.
To put together this year’s rankings, LinkedIn said it had looked at data across seven pillars, each revealing a critical element of career progression: the ability to advance, skills growth, company stability, external opportunity, company affinity, gender diversity and spread of educational backgrounds.
One of the key trends cited by LinkedIn based on this year’s list is that flexible work is no longer just a “nice-to-have.” Metrobank, for instance, developed employee wellness programs: work-from-home policies, employee training and support for employees’ emotional and mental well-being.
LinkedIn said these top companies also offered stability through upskilling opportunities. For instance, Accenture strengthened a program to help noncollege job applicants who have the potential to meet entry-level requirements.
Taking care of mental health has likewise gone mainstream. Topnotcher Smart Communications launched the “Mind Your Health” program to educate employees about various mental health issues.
