Almost a year after the Performance Investments Products Corporation (PIPC) scam broke out, there seems to be less news now from the media or the investigators. That does not mean, though, there are no developments happening in the background.
Here’s what we know so far, based on the latest report by financial fraud investigation firm Ferrier Hodgson.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported today that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against the officers and agents of the forex investment firm Performance Investments Products Corp. or PIPC after it found the company in violation of certain securities laws.
PIPC grabbed the headlines in July this year after its Singaporean owner Michael Liew fled the Philippines and disappeared, taking with him more than $250 worth of investors’ money.
According to the Inquirer report,
the SEC found that PIPC Corp., its officers and agents were liable for violation of provisions of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) under Section 8 or the illegal sale of unregistered securities; under Section 28 for failing to register brokers and agents to solicit investments, and under Section 26 for fraudulent transactions.
Named respondents were Singaporean national and PIPC Corp. chair Michael H.K. Liew, directors Cristina Gonzalez-Tuason and Cristina Jurado, and agents Eugene Co, Maria Pamela Morris, Michael Melchor Nubla, Luis Aragon, Mayenne Carmona, Anthony Kierulf, Renato Sarmiento Jr., Barbara Garcia, Jonathan Ocampo, Deborah Yabut, Victor Jose Vergel de Dios, David Chua-Unsu, Stanley Chua-Unsu, Nicole Ortega, Oudine Santos, Mia Legarda, Nicoline Amoranto Mendoza, Christine Yu and Herly Hesultas.
Looks like the PIPC: Performance Investment Products Corporation scandal has now reached the hallowed chambers of the Philippine Senate.
Last week, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Loren Legarda filed two separate Senate Resolutions urging the Philippine Senate to conduct an inquiry into the operations of the beleaguered forex trading firm PIPC. The purpose of both resolutions is to institute measures that would protect the investing public from fraudulent investment schemes.
The legislative branch seems to take a cue from the executive branch who ordered the creation last week of a task force that would identify and monitor investment scams operating in the country (Read our opinion of this task force in What's the point of an anti-scams task force?).
Click "Read More" to view a summary of the Senate Resolution filed by Senator Enrile and Senator Legarda.
ABS-CBN News reported that Michael Liew, founder and head of the forex trading program Performance Investment Products Corporation (PIPC), was spotted in Hong Kong last week.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Singaporean national Michael Liew was sighted in Hong Kong, boosting chances for PIPC investors to recover their investments.
The NBI said it is closely working with the International Police (Interpol) branch in Hong Kong to have Liew arrested.
- Source: ABS-CBN News
As of Thursday, August 9, however, appointed PIPC liquidator Ferrier Hodgson told investors during a meeting that no contact has been established yet with Michael Liew.
A summary of the Ferrier Hodgson's PIPC investigation report is available here: Progress of Ferrier Hodgson’s investigation of PIPC
Click here to discuss PIPC: Performance Investments Products Corporation in the PMT Forum.
On August 9, Thursday, investors of Performance Investments Products Corporation (PIPC) attended a presentation of Ferrier Hodgson, appointed provisional liquidators of PIPC, to listen to the results of their initial investigation.
Here is a summary of the report.
What we know: the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided the offices of PFEC (Performance Foreign Exchange Corporation or Performance Forex) at the Enterprise Building in Makati yesterday.
Why the NBI raided PFEC
The NBI gave the following reasons for conducting the raid: (1) some investors reported they have been scammed by PFEC; and (2) that the company is suspected of operating illegally (that is, against the stated purposes in its SEC registration).
Due to accusations of illegal foreign currency trading, the offices of Performance Foreign Exchange Corporation (Performance Forex or PFEC) at the Enterprise Building in Makati were raided yesterday, August 8, by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), reports the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Armed with a search warrant from a Makati judge, NBI agents swooped down on the offices of Performance Forex at the mezzanine of the Enterprise Building on Paseo de Roxas in Makati.
They confiscated several computers, according to a bureau official who asked not to be identified by name.
He said the raid was prompted by complaints filed by several investors who claimed to have fallen victim to an investment scam perpetrated by the firm.
“We received information that the firm was illegally operating as a foreign currency trader,” the NBI source said.
The full story and related PFEC discussion in the Performance Foreign Exchange Corporation (PFEC) thread in the PMT Forum.
Here's an appeal by pipccorpstaff, PMT member and apparent staff of Performance Investments Products Corp. (PIPC), to PIPC investors regarding the receivership letters intended for the financial forensics company hired to help in the investigation.
Here are the latest news and updates on the Performance Investments Products Corp. (PIPC) scandal.
