SEC issues warning against 14 online investment companies

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday warned the public against investing in 14 unregistered companies doing business online.

In an advisory, the corporate regulator cited 14 unregistered companies.

“The Commission has received information that individuals or group of persons representing various unregistered online investment entities are enticing the public to invest their money in high-earning products,” it said.

The companies include:

• NewG

• Smart Capital

• Gener8X

• Paid2Prosper

• CMT (Coins and Mining Trading)

• PSO (PSOPOWER Apps)

• TradeConnect

• IronTrading (Team Bangon)

• ExpertTrading

• OneCash

• Lucky Coins

• Miner’s Investment Group

• Digital Coin Trading

• All Pal for All Seasons

According to the SEC, the companies are offering investment contracts through social networking sites such as Facebook, with “unrealistic” returns on investments ranging from 10 to 200 percent per month.

“They require their interested investor to pay their initial investments by depositing their money in a specific bank account, Coins.ph account, GCash, through a money remittance company and through face-to-face payments with one of the entity’s agents,” the SEC noted.

“They usually claim that they invest their funds in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to justify their earning capacity,” the regulator said.

The commission warned potential investors not to invest in the companies involved as these are not registered with the SEC.

“The public is hereby informed that the above-mentioned online entities are not registered with the Commission as corporation or partnership and are not authorized to solicit investments from the public,” it said.

Individuals involved in the business of unregistered entities face fines of up to P5 million and up to 21 years of imprisonment.

“Accordingly, those who invite or recruit other people to join or invest in this venture or offer investment contracts or securities to the public may be held criminally liable or accordingly sanctioned or penalized,” the SEC said. —VDS, GMA News