The police have arrested a key suspect in an alleged family-orchestrated multimillion-peso investment scam that has duped hundreds of victims.
Margarita Huang was arrested last Thursday by members of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at SMDC Grass Residences Tower 3, located along Nueva Vizcaya Street, Barangay Santo Cristo, Quezon City.
Huang, also known as Margie, Marita and Irma Pascual, was nabbed based on the strength of three warrants of arrest for 12 counts of estafa. She was presented to PNP Chief Director General Oscar D. Albayalde on Monday.
“I am proud to announce the arrest of Mrs. Margarita Huang, a.k.a. Irma Pascual, a key suspect in a celebrated case of syndicated estafa that allegedly defrauded hundreds of millions from unsuspecting investors in a ‘Ponzi scheme’ involving a purported lending business,” Albayalde said.
“Mrs. Huang is accused in 12 separate criminal cases for estafa filed before RTC [Regional Trial Court] Branch 85 of Quezon City, RTC Branch 148 of Makati City and RTC Branch 40 of Quezon City with outstanding warrants of arrest issued by the three courts,” he added.
Huang’s arrest stemmed from at least 423 “bouncing checks” amounting to P130.5 million that she and her husband Gary allegedly issued to 29 “investors” in a purported lending business back in 2016.
Huang, her husband, her son Conrad and her daughter Nicole have been the subjects of several complaints that were investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged violation of the Securities Regulation Code.
Another suspect, Marivic Ifurung, the couple’s alleged secretary in their business, is included in the complaints The Huang couple, their son and Ifurung posted bail last year, but Nicole remains at large and is reportedly in hiding in New Zealand.
The CIDG said that 29 of the complainants sought its assistance, thus resulting in the arrest of Huang.
“Margarita and her family visit their circle of friends and parishes to entice them to invest in a lending facility they were operating with a large employee cooperative under the Comfoods Inc., wherein her husband is an alleged copartner,” the CIDG said by way of explaining how the investment scam was perpetrated.
It said the couple and their children promised their investors with earnings of from 4 percent up to 15 percent monthly interest, depending on the amount of money and length of the placement.
“Investigation also revealed that all representations made by the suspects were a ruse to con their victims through Ponzi or pyramiding scheme. Likewise, Comfoods Inc., through its letter-reply, belied all the lending programs presented by the suspects,” the CIDG said.