FILE PHOTO: Securities and Exchange Commission (RADYO INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — A regional trial court in Batangas has sentenced the perpetrators behind the P3-billion One Dream investment scam to a prison term of up to 20 years and a fine of P2.8 million, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Tuesday.
The corporate regulator said the July 14 decision was issued by the Batangas City Regional Trial Court Branch 2 against officials of One Dream Global Marketing Inc., which was legally posing as a detergents retailer while duping thousands of victims by selling illegal securities.
Convicted were One Dream officers Arnel Gacer, Jobelle de Guzman, Judith Itoh, Marlon de Guzman, Louie de Guzman, Belinda de Guzman and Jun de Guzman, the SEC said.
Arrest warrants were likewise issued against Ariel de Guzman, Richard Ramos, Jay-ar de Guzman and Joel de Guzman, who remain at large, according to the SEC.
The court decision came seven years after nine investors filed on July 21, 2015, a case of syndicated estafa at the Department of Justice against One Dream. Two other investors filed complaints against the group via the SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department.
The company officers were found guilty of violating Sections 26.1 and 28.1 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC), which require any entity that buys or sells securities for its own and customers’ account to be registered with the SEC and that it is unlawful “for any person,…
