The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a cease and desist order against entities using the name of Ayala Corp. to illegally solicit investments from the public.
The SEC, in an order issued February 22, directed Ayala Corporation Group, Inc., Ayala Corp. Budgetarian Online Shop, Global Online Ayala Corp., Bellavita Ayala Corp., and Ayala Corp. E Commerce to immediately cease and desist from further engaging in the unlawful solicitation, offer, and/or sale of securities in the form of investment contracts without the necessary license from the SEC.
It also prohibited the group from transacting any business involving funds in its depository banks, and from transferring, disposing, or conveying any related assets to ensure the preservation of the assets of its investors.
The order covers officers, operators, promoters, representatives, salesmen, agents, uplines, enablers, influencers, and all persons, conduit entities, subsidiaries and affiliates claiming and acting for and on behalf of the bogus Ayala group.
SEC issued the order after its Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) found that the bogus Ayala group has been conducting an unregistered investment scheme called tasking and recharging,
This scheme offers online jobs to prospective investors who are tasked to perform certain tasks in exchange for commissions.
Investors are also invited to buy consumer products from partner-sellers or merchants to improve store rankings to receive commissions.
The bogus Ayala group’s scheme involved the sale and/or offer of securities in the form of investment contracts, whereby a person makes an investment of money, in a common enterprise, with the expectation of profits, to be derived solely from the efforts of others, SEC said,
It said the bogus Ayala group was also found to be showing copies of fake incorporation documents with the SEC and registration papers with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to establish legitimacy.
“[The bogus Ayala group] willfully employed fraud by making it appear to the public that they are legitimate corporations authorized to sell, offer, and deal with securities,” the order read.
“The Bogus AC Group also used spurious DTI Certifications and SEC Registration Certificates to provide its unauthorized investment-taking activities a semblance of legitimacy. The foregoing shows a clear intent on the part of the Bogus AC Group to defraud the public which, if unrestrained, will likely prejudice them,” the SEC said.