Amidst pyramid scam allegations: Kapa Cebu HQ razed

CEBU, Philippines —  Amidst the controversy involving Kapa Community Ministry International, the group’s headquarters in Compostela, Cebu was robbed and burned down dawn yesterday.

Police Major Ian Macatangay said around 10 men with masks barged into the Kapa headquarters, robbed the 21 stay-in employees of their phones, and burned the office afterwards.

No one was hurt in the incident.

Macatangay said they are looking at all angles, not just the controversy of the organization is facing for allegedly engaging in a bogus investment scheme.

“Tanan man atong gitan-aw… posible sad nga inside job kay naay uban baya nga tuyoon og sunog ilang building para sa insurance (We’re looking at all angles… it is even possible that it was an inside job because there are other establishments that burn their building purposely to get the insurance money),” he said.

Still, he said, the allegation that the group defrauded members in Mindanao is an angle they are keeping an eye on.

No less than President Rodrigo Duterte ordered that Kapa and other investment firms be shut down. These groups have reportedly emerged as companies seeking investments from the public.

"When it is too good to be true, it must be fraud. Then, let it not be said that I did not warn you. You guys in the pyramiding, pity your family and your children," Duterte said in an interview over Sunshine Media Network, Inc. before dawn yesterday.

The President has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the special investigating teams of the Philippine National Police to shut down immediately the investments companies which he said are involved in pyramiding.

"That is why NBI, sirahan mo na mga ********** --- sirahan mo na sila at dalhin mo doon sa ---  pon my orders, upon my orders, otherwise, I said do not... Hindi ako magma-martial law, hindi ako mag-ganun. 'Yan. Isa pa 'yan. You know, kayong mga CIDG, kayong pulis, the special investigating teams there, the CIDG, ‘yun ang ano ng --- NBI, that is pyramiding," the President said.

Duterte said such investment schemes or pyramiding get bust in the long run and people end up with empty pockets not getting anything anymore from their initial investment.

 "It gets bust. Because sila pa o ito o kasi marami pa, the number is still good. But as the crowd gets thinner kasi nakabigay na lahat, ang ibalik nila kaagad 'yung 30,000, ibigay ngayon, wala na.Magbigay siguro 5,000 na lang hanggang mawala na 'yung investor, 'Pag nawala 'yung investor, you go kaput. So huwag ninyong gawain 'yan kasi mapapahiya ako," the President said further.

Duterte stressed people should put in mind that such investment scheme is a clear case of duping people with high returns, which are impossible and could not even be given by the Central Bank or any bank in the United States.

"When it is good to be true, it is fraud. Biro mo, 'yung P100,000 mo would earn P30,000 a month? Ni bangko na 'yung Banko Sentral natin magbigay, tres lang porsyento. Ilan ang porsyento ngayon na? Annually ha," he said.

Southern Mindanao regional police director Brig. Gen.Marcelo Morales told The STAR that the police would be monitoring such companies even masquerading as selling certain products but are actually luring people to invest with their money.

SEC has likewise declared certain investment companies promising huge returns to be illegal. This, as thousands of people have already invested various amounts of money in the hope that they will get as much as 500 percent in return within a short period of one to two months. — Philippine Star News Service, JMO (FREEMAN)