(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)
Beware of these scammers
November 28, 2007
For several months now, we have been receiving emails from people around the world reporting the scam activities of some Filipino scumbags. Unfortunately, there is nothing much we can do but to advise these victims to contact the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to file complaints.
Here’s the contact info of the NBI:
National Bureau of Investigation
NBI Building, Taft Avenue, Ermita,
Manila, Philippines 1000
Tel. Nos. (02) 523-8231 to 38 (Local); (+632) 523-8231 to 38 (International)
Fax Nos. (2) 526-1216, 523-7414 (Local); (+632) 526-1216, 523-7414 (International)
Email Address: director@nbi.gov.ph
We are reprinting below some of these emails in order to warn others against the modus operandi of these scammers.
