Securities and Exchange Commission (FILE PHOTO)
DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines –The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has flagged two more entities for illegal investment schemes in Mindanao.
The SEC Davao Extension Office (SEC-DEO) confirmed that both the OTCJKE (also known as OTC Automated Trading Platform and JKE International Limited) and the A Power (also known as APower Pro, A Power PH, APower Power Bank, APower Power Bank Sharing Solution OPC) are illegally soliciting investments from the public.
Based on the SEC-DEO monitoring, APower has an office in Kidapawan City, Cotabato, while OTCJKE has an office here in Davao.
Based on the advisories released on Dec. 6 by the SEC-Enforcement and Investment Protection Department (EIPD), both entities were soliciting investments using online platforms that showed they were engaged in a Ponzi scheme.
The scheme was named after scammer Carlos Ponzi in the 1920s in the US “because of the promise of an exorbitant rate of return with little to no risk at all to the investors.”
In the case of OTCJKE, it flaunted itself as a “high-frequency trading encryption platform,” and promised investors that they would earn between 3% and 8% daily which they could withdraw anytime through their crypto wallet or through a digital platform.
Another form of income would be through the recruitment of other investors.
The platform was also “advertised as automated and 100% legal.” It’s supposedly supported by the British JKE group and claims to be helping the victims of the war in Ukraine.
The investigation showed that investors were tasked to download its application from the online application stores and that they would need to invest their money in US dollars through financial digital platforms.
After investing, they can start using the “mining bot to earn and their income would depend on the amount of money deposited as shown in the table posted in their Facebook group.”
The advisory pointed out that the entity was not registered, and therefore, did not secure a license to solicit investments based on the Securities Regulation Code.
In the case of APower, the EIPD said that based on its website, it claims to be based in California’s Silicon Valley and that it was also seeking investment through social media and independent websites.
It claimed that it is “an innovative intelligent infrastructure manufacturer and operator for consumer scenarios, that it is committed to mobile charging solutions, providing users with convenient and timely mobile power rental services.”
The entity also claimed that aside from providing “users with a high-quality charging experience” it also claims to have “its own advantages to continuously carry out refined operations for merchants, providing partners with comprehensive solutions such as brand promotion, product exposure, word-of-mouth promotion, and new drainage.”
Just like the other entity, it also has a mobile application that can be downloaded.
An investor, under its scheme, can choose from “15 types of advertising charging stations” whose value ranges from P500 and P1 million “valid for three days up to 80 days.”
The promise was that investors would earn between P12.50 and P120,000 a day or a maximum of P3.6 million a month. Also, for recruiting other investors, anyone can earn a 10% “recharge commission” and 10% up 30% from “product commission.”
Although the entity was registered before the SEC as a one-person corporation, it was not able to secure a license to solicit investments.
The SEC warned that those involved in the operations of the entities could be sued for their roles in these platforms and that if found guilty, may face a maximum penalty of P5 million in fine or 21 years in jail, or both dependent on the discretion of the court.