SEC adds 3 more to alert list, acts on Silverlion

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned the public about three entities that have been soliciting investments without a license, with two of them not even registered with the agency.

In an advisory, the SEC said that Bit-Cryptorising Marketing Consultancy and BCR Rising Trade, Inc. have been taking investments from the public.

The two solicit investments ranging from P1,000 to P300,000, with a promised return of 15% per week that accumulates up to 60% and 120% in 30 or 60 days.

“The aforementioned investment scheme of BCR Rising and Bit-Cryptorising clearly involves offering and sale of securities in the form of investment contract as defined under Section 3.1 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC),” the SEC said.

The SRC defines securities as shares, participation or interests in a corporation or a profit-making venture and evidenced by a certificate or contract.

According to the regulator, although BCR Rising is a registered company, it is not authorized to solicit investments as it did not secure prior registration.

Bit-Cryptorising was found to be not registered and therefore does not have the license to take investments from the public.

In a separate advisory, the SEC warned the public against CSTMINE.com, which it found to have a proliferating scam on its website.

“The persons who invested their hard-earned money were left dry by the administrators of the website as they were not able to withdraw their investments when the website closed and became inaccessible,” the regulator said.

Through the investigations of the commission, it found out that CSTMINE.com has been enticing the public to invest in the entity through a platform that is supposed to be a “crypto mining” machine.

The commission defines crypto mining or cryptocurrency mining as the process of creating new digital “coins.”

“Apparently, this is the concept that the new scammers are leveraging on to entice their prospective victims [to invest] hard-earned money on their illegal investment-taking schemes like the subject entity at hand, CSTMINE.com,” said the SEC.

The entity offers investment packages for as low as 3,500 and up to 65,000 Nigerian nairas, with the potential profit depending on the time the amount of initial capital was deposited.

The regulator identifies the offering of the three entities as a Ponzi scheme, which it describes as fraudulent and unsustainable, and not a registrable security.

The SEC also said CSTMINE.com is not a registered company and operates without the necessary license to take investments from the public.

Meanwhile, the regulator issued an order of revocation against Zamboanga-based Silverlion Livestock Trading Corp. after it was found to be selling and offering securities to the public.

Investigations conducted by the SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department and the SEC Zamboanga Extension Office revealed that the entity has been offering investments starting from P5,000 up to P100,000 with a promised 2.3% daily earnings.

Although the company is a registered corporation under the SEC, it has not secured the license to sell securities nor has it registered any securities with the commission.

“The investment scheme of Silverlion also operates to defraud investors as it deceives the investing public by making it appear that they have the authority to deal in securities,” the regulator said.

On Nov. 26, 2022, the commission issued a show-cause order against the company, to which it failed to respond.

The commission views the company’s activity as ultra vires act as it constitutes “serious misrepresentation.” It then ordered the revocation of its business registration in violation of the SRC. — Justine Irish D. Tabile