http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/07252007/headlines09.html
| By Joel San Juan |
| Reporter |
|
MORE victims of a new multimillion-dollar financial scam are now surfacing before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in a bid to file a class suit against the incorporators of Performance Investments Products Corp. (PIPC), accused of foisting an investment scam. Lawyer John John Felipe, who is representing five of the complainants against PIPC, said many victims plan to join the class suit being poised against the Singaporean owner of PIPC, identified as Michael H.K. Liew and its general manager, Cristina Gonzalez-Tuason. However, Felipe asked mediamen to withhold the names of his clients until an official complaint is lodged with the NBI. Felipe accompanied some of the victims to the NBI office in Manila to seek help in investigating PIPC’s business transactions, and in recovering the money they invested in its foreign exchange trading scheme. The lawyer said PIPC may be held liable for “fraudulent misrepresentation” since it is only registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a research company. “We want to find out if this company is really allowed to engage in foreign-exchange trading and to recruit people to invest in its business scheme,” Felipe said. Felipe noted that PIPC started circulating information that its investors’ funds of more than US$250 million was missing, and could have been diverted by Liew to his personal accounts in other countries only after authorities unearthed the illegal online pyramiding scheme perpetrated by Francswiss. “At the height of the Francswiss scandal, a great number of PIPC investors started pulling out their money from the company; after several days Tuason reported that Liew is missing along with the investors’ money,” Felipe added. NBI Interpol supervising agent Dominador Villanueva III also admitted that well-known law firms have called up his office to inform him of possible filing of suits against PIPC incorporators. “Some of the investors have apparently tapped big-time law firms to represent them. We are just waiting for them to come here and pursue the filing of charges,” Villanueva said. Under the scheme, investors were required to shell out a minimum of US$40,000 with a promised 12 percent to 15 percent return on investment annually. Those who could not produce the minimum amount were allowed to have partners in order to produce it. Many are residents of posh Forbes Park and Dasmariñas Village in Makati City. The PIPC has asked the investors to attend a general meeting this Thursday at Citibank’s office in Makati City. |
