MANUEL AMALILIO: Suspected mastermind disappears.
KOTA KINABALU - A Filipino-Malaysian believed to be the brains behind a scam that duped some 15,000 people in Mindanao and the Visayas of P12 billion has fled to Sabah, the National Bureau of Investigation said Thursday.
Mohammad Suffian Saaid, also known as Manuel Amalilio, who was involved in the P12-billion pyramiding scam, has left the country.
NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas said Amalilio, founder of Aman Futures Group Phils. Inc., is now in Kota Kinabalu.
Rojas said the NBI has coordinated with the Interpol and the Malaysian Embassy to determine Amalilio’s exact location.
The government has no extradition treaty with Malaysia but Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said there are other ways to get Malaysia’s help in sending back Amalilio to stand trial in the Philippines.
“Malaysia is part of the Asean Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, we can invoke that too,” De Lima said.
The pyramid scam has reportedly victimized some 15,000 people, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao. Some of the victims are reportedly local officials, government employees, and police and military officers.
The NBI sent a notice to the Interpol and Malaysian Embassy on Thursday informing them of the syndicated estafa complaint filed against Amalilio at the Department of Justice.
By Tetch Torres
Skim piramid ialah model perniagaan yang tidak dapat dikekalkan yang membabitkan pertukaran wang terutamanya bagi mendaftar peserta baru ke dalam skim ini, biasanya tanpa barangan atau perkhidmatan disertakan.
ReplyDeletePada tahun 2003, satu "skim piramid" berasaskan Internet [3] dibongkar oleh FTC, di mana pelanggan membayar yuran pendaftaran bagi menyertai program dan membeli pakej yang termasuk gudang Internet (Internet mall) dan khidmat dan barangan berkait. Aduan FTC menyatakan bahawa syarikat menjamin pengguna yang membeli pakej tersebut bahawa pakej tersebut akan membenarkan mereka mendapat komisen bagi setiap WebSuite yang dijual.
ReplyDeleteFTC menuduh bahawa syarikat tersebut salah tonjol bahawa pelanggan yang terbabit dalam skim mereka akan mendapat pendapatan yang lumayan, sedangkan kebanyakan pelanggan kerugian dalam operasi tersebut, dan pembela membekalkan bahan pemasaran penipuan kepada rakan berkait (affiliates - membekalkan mereka cara menipu orang lain; dan akhirnya, syarikat gagal menjelaskan bahawa sebahagian besar peserta akan kehilangan wang, dan skim tersebut sebenarnya merupakan skim piramid haram.
ReplyDeleteAnd why this happened?
ReplyDeleteIf it easy to be rich, then everybody doesn't need to work.
ReplyDeleteInvestors should watch out for schemes guaranteeing high returns to avoid being duped by pyramid scams, BPI Asset Management said in a report.
ReplyDeleteIn light of the Ponzi scheme allegedly orchestrated by the Aman Future Group Philippines, Inc. which fleeced some 15,000 low-income investors of as much as P12 billion, BPI urged people not to be blinded by the promise of sizeable yields.
Delete“Investment scams are not new. Despite media attention, Ponzi schemes are still successful simply because investors are lured by the promise of spectacular returns,” BPI analyst Carlo Lorenzo Q. Cuevas said in a report published last week.
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DeleteHe stressed that high returns can be matched only by high risks -- it is the most basic investment principle.
Delete“Returns on investments are never guaranteed... No one can predict the outcome of the market, not even the economic experts who assess economic performance on a full-time basis,” he said.
Aman Futures had promised its investors -- mostly farmers, fisherfolk, government employees, market vendors and the like -- a 30-40% return on investment within eight days and a 50-80% return within 18 to 20 days.
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DeleteBPI also said investors should make sure they understand where they place their hard-earned money.
Delete“A good investment manager should be able to clearly address your queries. An investment manager who cannot explain his recommended investment is a big red flag!” Mr. Cuevas said.
DeleteAman Futures, which operated mostly in Pagadian City had told investors that the profit would come from a deal with Malaysian brokerage firm Okachi (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., a firm supposedly engaged in futures trading involving commodities such as oil, manganese, palm oil and nickel.
DeleteIt turned out, though, that early investors were allegedly being paid using the contributions of new investors. The scam crumbled when Aman Futures ran out of money to pay their stable of investors the promised yields.
DeleteLastly, BPI Asset Management urged investors to deal only with institutions that have built a solid track record over time.
“Research on the background of the company, its owners, its management and the reputation it has built over the long-term.
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DeleteLooking at investment returns alone is like targeting a destination without looking at the reliability of the vehicle that will bring us there,” Mr. Cuevas said.
The investment manager should be able to profile the investor and recommend an appropriate product, detailing clearly the risks that come along with it, he explained.
DeleteAman Futures founder Manuel Amalilio has since fled the country when his offices were shut down in September. Intelligence reports place him in Kota Kinabalu and the Justice department has assured that talks are ongoing with Malaysia to secure the suspect.
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