P.5-M reward up for scam suspects’ capture

MANILA, Philippines - An engineer and his wife have put up a total reward of P500,000 for the capture of five officials of a firm who reportedly duped him of P38 million.

Egyptian-Kuwaiti Ashraf Mohammed Akl and his Filipina wife, Maureen, said yesterday there would be a P100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of each of the five officials of Hyper Power International Direct Sales and Trading Inc.

The Akls’ announcement comes after the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 215 issued warrants for the arrest of HPI owners Darlito de la Cruz and Queen Ashley Ablan, as well as three other incorporators on June 6.

The warrants are for the cases of syndicated estafa against the five and the estafa cases against De la Cruz and Ablan.

No bail was recommended for syndicated estafa, while De la Cruz and Ablan could post P60,000 bail each.

The Akls filed the charges against De la Cruz and Ablan for failing to return their investment with interest worth P38.349 million.

HPI issued post-dated checks in the name of HPI and De la Cruz from Oct. 15 last year to Jan. 30, but HPI’s bank account was closed while De la Cruz’s account was frozen.

In April, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed 502 counts of violating Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code against HPI over an alleged multimillion-peso pyramiding investment scam.

The SEC alleged that the scheme has victimized at least 80 individuals who have invested millions in HPI.