Updates on the Royal Manchester Five scam
April 15, 2008
Just a month after the Royal Manchester Five scam became public, there seems to be less media attention now and the enthusiasm of victims to run after the scammers is beginning to die down.
We scoured the internet for recent updates on this scam but failed to get news on major developments. Here’s what we’ve seen, though.
(More pics) Cyrus Hao, Royal Manchester Five and the Abba-Deo P1.1 million contract
March 26, 2008
Cyrus Hao, chief executive of Royal Manchester Five (RMF) — a foreign currency investment program that duped investors billions of pesos, is still at large.
Hao, who hails from Pilar, Sorsogon, and Renato San Juan, company vice president for marketing, are feared to have already fled the Philippines on Tuesday, March 4. If you have any information on their whereabouts, please contact the following offices or approach your local police:
National Bureau of Investigation
NBI Building, Taft Avenue, Manila, Philippines
Tel. No. (+632) 523-82-31 to 38
Securities and Exchange Commission
Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department (SEC-CED)
Tel. No. (+632) 724-7650 or (+632) 727-2267
Pictures of Cyrus Hao and other RMF agents are in the article Wanted: Cyrus Hao of Royal Manchester Five Trading Corp.
More pictures are shown below.
Also shown is a copy of the contract of RMF with the Abba-Deo Prime Express Corporation, an organization that invested P1.1 million in RMF. The investment was supposed to earn 3.5% per month for 6 months, with the first interest to be paid in March. Unfortunately, the RMF scam unfolded even before Abba-Deo saw a single cent of interest.
Update: Sources tell us that, actually, Abba-Deo was a marketing arm set up exclusively for RMF. Whether they were victims or contributors to the scam is currently part of the police’s investigation.
Discuss RMF in the following threads:
- Royal Manchester Five discussion (Part 3)
- Royal Manchester Five discussion (Part 2)
- Royal Manchester Five discussion (Part 1)
Cyrus Hao worked for the ‘Queen of Pyramiding’
March 20, 2008
Cyrus Hao, chief executive of Royal Manchester Five, apparently learned the ropes from Rosario “Rose” Baladjay, owner of pyramid scam Multinational Telecom Investors Corp. (Multitel), for whom he worked for prior to starting his own pyramid operation.
The Manila Standard reported that Cyrus Hao started recruiting people for Royal Manchester Five shortly after Multitel was shut down with Baladjay’s arrest in 2003.
Rose Baladjay is known as the “Queen of Pyramiding” in the Philippines after her Multitel company scammed more than P100 billion ($2.5 billion at the current exchange rate) from around 2 million investors. She enticed investors with guaranteed returns of 4-5% per month or, as an alternative, a double-your-money offer or 100% return after 18 months.
(With pics) Wanted: Cyrus Hao of Royal Manchester Five Trading Corp.
March 11, 2008
The manhunt is on for 28-year-old Cyrus Yap Hao, said to be the president of Royal Manchester Five Trading Corp. (RMF), a foreign currency investment company that duped thousands of investors of money amounting to more than P2.1 billion (US$51 million).
Several investors trooped to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) this week to complain that the checks they are holding have been dishonored and that Cyrus Hao, who hails from Pilar, Sorsogon, and Renato San Juan, company vice president for marketing, could not be located. The two are feared to have already fled the Philippines on Tuesday, March 4.
Other officers of RMF — Vice Presidents Joesedev Colina, Edwin Rosas and Joseph Bualoy, and Vice President for Finance Rowena Uy — claim they have also been cheated, but investors say they do not believe them.
RMF is a currency-trading investment program that enticed investors with a guaranteed return of 4-5% every month. Minimum investment amount is P200,000 ($5,000).
Celebrity-investors said to be victims of the scam include professional basketball players and an actor. They are:
- Ginebra Gin Kings player Rafi Reavis (P8.9 million plus $330,485.40)
- Johnny and his wife Mary Ann Abarrientos (P6.9 million, plus another P2.5 million from Johnny)
- Mark Macapagal (P2.5 million)
- former Purefoods Hotdogs coach Eric Altamirano and wife Marissa (P1.2 million and P0.889 million, respectively)
- Alaska cager Edward Juinio (P7.2 million)
- actor Rustom Padilla ($47,000)
Scam confirmed: RMF Trading Corporation
March 7, 2008
In the beginning, there was FrancSwiss.
Then came Performance Investments Products Corp. (PIPC) and Performance Foreign Exchange Corporation (PFEC).
Now, the latest multi-million peso scam to emerge is Royal Manchester Five, also called RMF Trading Corporation.
Several RMF agents and investors posting in the Royal Manchester Five discussion thread in the PMT Forum are confirming that the company is now officially a scam after the CEO and owner, 28-year-old Cyrus Hao, purportedly ran away with millions of dollars worth of investors’ money.
Says PMT member faithfully: All of the issued checks lately bounced kaya nag trigger na puntahan sa house na yung Chairman (Cyrus Hao) kase they can’t get hold of him and he’s the only one who has access sa bank accounts… it’s confirmed, the chairman ran off, the directors can’t find him anymore.. the house is empty and all bank accounts are closed.
Says suzette07: mukhang sa zamboanga daw dumaan then malaysia…
The development is strikingly similar to that of another fallen company PIPC, whose Singaporean owner Michael Liew allegedly fled the Philippines and disappeared with between $140 million and $250 million of funds in tow.
