The Securities and Exchange Commission claimed victory against illegal lending after a regional trial court convicted the incorporators and directors of X-CEE789 Lending and Trading Inc. for submitting falsified documents for its registration as a lending company.
In a decision dated June 30, the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 118 found the incorporators and directors of the lending firm and fined each of them at least P10,000.
Found guilty were Merlinda A. Derequito, Mila R. Anonuevo, Haydee S. Alarcon, Maria Collen A. Custodio, Marisa D. Abaquin, Ramona C. Belen, Pinder Kaur Bhopal, Parvesh Kumar, Karan Kumar, Surinder Bhopal, Kamaljit Kaur and Jaswinder Kaur.
The SEC filed the criminal complaint against the respondents upon finding that they made a false statement in their application for the incorporation of X-CEE789 and issuance of its authority to operate, as mandated by the law.
X-CEE789 submitted a Certificate of Bank Deposit of P1 million, which it said was issued by Banco de Oro-Two Shopping Center Branch in Pasay City, to comply with the minimum paid-up capital prescribed during its registration as a lending company with the SEC in 2017.
Upon verifying with the bank, however, the SEC found that no such certificate was issued to X-CEE789. The agency subsequently denied the company’s application for registration as a lending company.
“For knowingly and willingly making a false statement in their Articles of Incorporation and submitting a falsified Certificate of Bank Deposit that the law requires lending companies to file, the accused have clearly violated Section 12[3][a] of RA 9474 [or the Lending Company Regulation Act of 2007],” the court said.
Luis Lopez, who was the former liaison officer of X-CEE789, said that it was his godfather Salvador Dapadap who told him to secure a Certificate of Bank Deposit from a certain Sarah Jane Ibasco for the company’s application.
Lopez would then pay Ibasco, who supposedly arranged documents for filing with the SEC, P5,000 in exchange for the bank certificate.
Surinder Bhopal, Haydee Alarcon, and Karan Kumar admitted to signing the Articles of Incorporation of X-CEE789, stating that the company had a paid-up capital of P1 million. Kumar also noted that it was their agreement to pay their capital contribution to their friend, Parvesh Kumar, only after the company was registered with the SEC.
“Per their own admission, the accused never made any capital contribution at all…they said that they held on to their money because they believe that they will only give their contribution after the corporation has been registered and started operating as a lending company,” the court noted.
“This is a willful violation of the law for which the accused cannot be excused.”
The conviction of the incorporators and directors of X-CEE789 represents the eighth conviction the SEC has won under a crackdown initiated in 2017 on illegal lenders, including those engaged in “5-6” schemes and other usurious practices. In the eight cases decided so far, the concerned trial courts found 71 individuals, 33 of whom are foreigners, guilty.