A check over YouTube will show that Maria Francesca Tan six years ago was featured over the YouTube channel of an international business news and data provider in its “Thought Leaders” segment. A still respected business paper also featured a short video of Tan over YouTube speaking on the Fourth Industrial Revolution during an economic forum of the publication.
And two years ago, an online news organization featured Tan in an almost 36-minute video in its YouTube channel, touting her as a “The Millennial CEO.”
It looked like, at least two years ago, that Tan’s star would shine more and her company, the MFT Group of Companies Inc. carrying her initials, would become a heavyweight investment firm.
However, Tan is currently facing criminal proceedings over running alleged fraudulent schemes, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DoJ) pressing cases against her.
It was in January this year that the SEC issued a cease-and-desist order against the MFT Group and the Court of Appeals extended by another six months the freeze order on at least 138 bank accounts, four securities accounts, and four insurance accounts across multiple financial institutions associated with the MFT Group, Foundry Ventures, Inc., Mondial Medical Technologies, and several high-ranking officials within the aforementioned entities.
The SEC said it had uncovered that the MFT Group was offering guaranteed returns of 12% to 18% on investments without the necessary licenses from the commission. This meant that the group offered a return ranging from 1% to 1.5% for their investors.
MFT Group gave its investors a promissory note or borrower-lender agreement as proof of their investment, but these were allegedly executed without proper documentation and registration with the SEC.
For its part, the DOJ said it will closely scrutinize the complaint filed by the SEC against the MFT Group and Foundry Ventures implicated in the alleged illegal investment scheme.
“Meticulously uncover every detail surrounding this case, look closely into every angle and if necessary, charge everyone who is proven to have defrauded our precious Filipino investors,” Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla was quoted as instructing DOJ prosecutors.
“Investments are the life and blood of our economic sustainability, the immediate resolution of this case is a top priority,” he said.
While the MFT Group can be chastised for offering allegedly fraudulent investment schemes, the 1% to 1.5% per month it was offering pales in comparison to the 180% to 7,200% return in 30 to 360 days offered by ROARK FUND, guised as an artificial intelligence (AI) trading robot.
The SEC has already issued an advisory saying the ROARK FUND resembles a “Ponzi scheme” and warned the public to be aware of such schemes.
“The offering and selling of securities in the form of investment contracts using the “Ponzi Scheme” which is fraudulent and unsustainable, is NOT a registrable security.The commission will not issue a License to Sell Securities to the Public to persons or entities that are engaged in this business or scheme,” the SEC said.
Studying clearly the situation of Tan and the MFT Group, Filipinos may still have a long way to go in learning what financial literacy is all about, particularly on how to invest, and identifying investments that are viable and are not Ponzi schemes.
And how many more alleged fraudulent and ponzi schemes are being peddled to Filipinos?
(Image from SEC website)
