Don’t do ‘Mazama,’ other get-rich-quick schemes, says SEC

Steer clear of “Mazama” if you’re looking to grow your investments, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned as part of an ongoing crackdown on financial scams.

The corporate watchdog issued a series of advisories warning the public against investing in Mazama, a website and app that offerd various get-rich-quick scams, alongside Winvest and Meta Trade.

The three companies were not licensed to sell investments and appeared to be operating Ponzi scams, the SEC added.

Mazama, whose products are being advertised on Facebook, lures unwitting victims through the supposed leasing of advertising machines. Through the scheme, investors can profit by as much as 16.5 percent per day or nearly 500 percent per month.

“The scheme offered by Mazama to the public is clearly a ‘Ponzi scheme’ where monies from new investors are used in paying ‘fake profits’ to prior investors, and is designed mainly to favor its top recruiters and prior risk takers and is detrimental to subsequent members in case of scarcity of new investors,” the SEC said.

Similar warnings were issued against the two other companies.

Winvest, headed by a certain Darwin Sarte, tells investors they could earn up to 3.5 percent per day through futures trading at Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange.

The SEC said Winvest was not a registered company and lacked the license to sell securities.

Meta Trade was also found selling illegal investment contracts that promise profits of up to 400 percent in 30 days.

“In view thereof, the public is hereby advised not to invest or to stop investing in the investment scheme being offered by Meta Trade, and its representatives,” the regulator said.

Individuals acting as salesmen, brokers, dealers, agents and representatives may be held criminally liable under Section 28 of the Securities Regulation Code. They face penalties of up to P5 million and a prison term of 21 years.

The names of all those involved would be reported to the Bureau of Internal Revenue so that the appropriate penalties and taxes can be assessed, the SEC added. INQ