Tuesday, October 3, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Special Pages
    • Pets
    • Tech
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • On the Road
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Cravings
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Agriculture
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Special Pages
    • Pets
    • Tech
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • On the Road
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Cravings
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Agriculture
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home News Top Stories

SEC: P50 billion flowed into Kapa

Joel E. ZurbanobyJoel E. Zurbano
June 12, 2019, 1:45 am
in Top Stories
Reading Time: 6 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

Police and agents from the National Bureau of Investigation raided 14 offices of Kapa Community Ministry International Inc., a day after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the group shut down for its alleged involvement in an illegal investment scheme.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, is set to file criminal complaints against Kapa officials for the alleged scam that reportedly defrauded participants of as much as P50 billion.

In Cebu, NBI agents and police confiscated blank and filled-up application forms, books, membership certificates and bids of donations from the Kapa office in Barangay Poblacion in Compostela.

The raid came after Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 20 Judge Marivic Umali issued a search warrant against the firm for alleged violation of the Securities Regulation Code.

The authorities also swooped down on Kapa branch offices in Tacloban City; Taytay, Rizal; Tagum City; Opol, Misamis Oriental; and even the house of its founder Joel Apolinario in General Santos City.

The NBI deployed 14 teams to simultaneously serve search warrants in 14 locations, as granted by the Manila court.

NBI Deputy Director Antonio Pagatpat said the securities regulations require any group or company to secure a license from the SEC before engaging in any kind of investment activity. Kapa is not a religious group as it claims, he added.

“From day one up to the time that it was ripe for operations, not a single religious activity was conducted by the organization. In fact, they accepted donations from anyone, regardless of their religious affiliation,” Pagatpat said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Pagatpat said the group gives a 5-percent commission to members who help them in the “recruitment process.”

In Cebu, NBI officials said most of the seized items were damaged from the fire that struck the office Saturday, June 8. The recovered evidence will be turned over to the court.

The raiding team also secured a big vault believed to contain millions of pesos in cash.

The Sunstar Cebu reported that a group of 10 armed men failed to steal the vault when they set the office ablaze Saturday. However, they carted away a small vault believed to contain P5 million to P7 million.

Police Regional Office 7 Director Debold Sinas doubts the armed men knew about the contents of the vaults.

“Our suspicion is that there could be an inside job,” he said.

Although they were not able to arrest any Kapa officials, the NBI, in coordination with SEC, will file a case against founder Joel Apolinario and Kapa Cebu area manager Christopher Abad for violating Sections 8 and 26 of Republic Act 8799.

“We have already a case build-up. We are going to file the necessary charges against the pastor, against his men, against his directors and against the defenders or those who are abetting and propagating this scheme,” said SEC Chairman Emilio Aquino in a press conference Monday.

The group reportedly accepted investments, which it dubbed as “donations” of no less than P10,000 from each of its members, according to the commission.

The SEC considered the scheme to be among the biggest investment scams in the country, getting no less than P50 billion from its members.

“With five-million members, with a minimum investment of P10,000 per member, you’re looking at P50 billion,” Auino said.

President Duterte said the activities of these investment schemes, including the Kapa Community Ministry International, were clearly a form of estafa.

“The operation of Kapa was a clear pyramiding scheme, which collected money from its members to give to the pioneering operators of the group. When it is too good to be true, it is fraud,” Duterte said.

Duterte said it was impossible for a group to give 30 percent monthly interest to investments because banks here and abroad could only give a maximum of 3 percent interest per year.

He said that the interest received by its members were just drawn from the money of the newly recruited members who were also drawn into investing in the pyramiding scam.

The Philippine National Police urged victims of the Kapa and other investment scams to file complaints.

PNP spokesperson Col. Bernard Banac said that even after the authorities raided some Kapa offices, only a few complainants have come forward to testify on the group’s alleged illegal operations.

According to Banac, additional complaints will strengthen the case against Kapa officials and against those in other investment scams that mostly operate in Southern Mindanao.

Kapa or Kabus Padatoon (enriching the poor), is a registered religious group that was earlier flagged by the SEC for allegedly soliciting investments in the form of donations and at a monthly interest rate of 30 percent.

Another group raided was the Alabel Maasim Credit Cooperative in Poblacion, Alabel town in Sarangani. Alamcco was also cited by SEC for accepting investments from the public and offering a monthly payout of 35 percent.

Lawyer Riolen Gillesania, Apolinario’s counsel, told reporters that the raid mainly targeted documents and other materials that were supposedly used by Kapa to solicit investments from the public.

Apolinario and his family were not at the house during the search operation.

He said the NBI agents seized from Apolinario’s home some Kapa membership forms, a list of the group’s members with their cellphone numbers, and three bullets found at the guard house.

The lawyer said the raid was a state attack on a religious group.

He said Kapa is just a victim of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, he said, because he lost some members of his congregation to Kapa.

In a TV interview Friday night, Quiboloy asked President Duterte about Kapa.

Gillesania added that Kapa’s legal team will study the circumstances of the raids for the possible filing of counter-charges against the NBI and other law enforcement agencies.

In Alabel town, NBI agents disarmed the five security guards of Alamcco during the search operation.

The group’s founder, Pastor Jerson Cagang, was not around during the raid, which triggered confusion among employees and Alamcco members gathered outside its compound. 

In Tacloban City, police and the NBI also raided Organico Agribusiness Ventures Corp. under the crackdown earlier ordered by President Duterte against get-rich-quick scams.

Leaders of other religious groups have asked Senators-elect Ronald dela Rosa and Imee Marcos to help them clear their names.

At a news conference in Quezon City, Danilo Mangahas of Ahon sa Kahirapan (ASK) Movement, the group’s spokesperson, also called on incoming Citizens Battle Against Corruption Rep. Eddie Villanueva to step into the matter.

“We will file a petition with the Senate, particularly to seek the support of Senators-elect Dela Rosa and Marcos through a probe,” he told the Manila Standard.

Joewie Argate of the Christ Lifeshaper Church, along with Pastors Raddy Umandac, Rey Pablo and Alfred Gayla from Cainta and Taytay, Rizal, said they were saddened by the simultaneous raids at the house of Kapa founder Pastor Joel Apolinario in Tagum City and some Kapa offices in General Santos City and Quezon City.

“We need to counter this through prayers for we believe that it is the only powerful weapon that we have in this time of crisis,” Kapa Community said in a statement. With PNA

FACT FILE

KAPA-Community Ministry International Inc. 
• Kapa stands for ‘Kabus Padatoon,’ Cebuano for “enrich the poor”
• Founded in 2016 by Pastor Joel Apolinario 
• Based in Bislig, Surigao del Sur
• Registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a religious organization
• Calls itself ‘The Church Within the Church’ with the slogan ‘To God Be The Glory’
• According to its website, has started several businesses such as limestone and silica mining, rice production, woodworks, poultry, seafood, mango plantation, textiles, and fuel trading.
• To become a KAPA member, a person may “voluntarily support the ministry by donating a certain amount of money with a minimum of P5,000 and a maximum of P1 million out of their “willingness and generosity.”
KAPA members’ benefits include:
• “Received Blessings”-A member is entitled to receive blessings “with a minimum of 30 percent based on his/her donated amount every month or monthly.”
• “Patulong (Aid) Account”-A member is allowed to avail of this based on compounding computation (percentage based on the 30 percent noted above)
• “Hospitalization Blessings”-A member is allowed to advance a minimum of 2 months of his/her blessings in case of hospitalization
• Transferrable-In case of death of a KAPA member, his/her account is transferrable to any of his/her legitimate family members
• Harvested high variety of rice-A member is allowed to buy rice from the group at a minimum price of P30 per kilo.

READ: Duterte sets crackdown on 'investment' scams

READ: Cult in trouble for invest schemes

Rio N. Araja

Tags: investment schemeKapa-Community Ministry International Inc.National Bureau of InvestigationRodrigo DuterteSecurities and Exchange Commission
ADVERTISEMENT
Joel E. Zurbano

Joel E. Zurbano

Related Posts

PH, US, allies kick off 11-day naval drills

byVince Lopezand1 others
October 3, 2023, 1:10 am
0
8
Pair wins Nobel Medicine prize

Drills involving the naval personnel of the Philippines, the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, and Indonesia kicked...

Read more

President, VP’s approval ratings see steep drop in third quarter

byCharles Dantes
October 3, 2023, 1:05 am
0
8
President, VP’s approval ratings see steep drop in third quarter

The approval ratings of the country’s two top officials dropped noticeably in the third quarter of the year, the latest...

Read more

Senate, House performing well, Pinoys say in Pulse Asia survey

byManila Standard
October 3, 2023, 1:00 am
0
8
Senate, House performing well, Pinoys say in Pulse Asia survey

More than half of Filipino adults approve of the performance of the Senate and the House of Representatives, a third-quarter...

Read more

‘Jenny’ seen reaching peak intensity today

byRio N. Arajaand1 others
October 3, 2023, 12:55 am
0
8
‘Jenny’ seen becoming typhoon by Monday

Typhoon “Jenny” intensified while moving northwestward over the Philippine Sea, the state weather bureau said yesterday. It is expected to...

Read more

Napoles dodges plunder rap, but guilty of 9 counts of direct bribery

byMaricel Cruz
October 3, 2023, 12:50 am
0
8
Food stamps tack eyed via ADB aid

Convicted plunderer Janet Lim Napoles was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan in a plunder case together with a former party-list lawmaker....

Read more

6 Navotas cops facing charges for teen’s slay

byManila Standard
October 3, 2023, 12:45 am
0
8
Soriano named comms adviser

State prosecutors have filed criminal charges against six Navotas police officers implicated in the death of 17-year-old Jerhode “Jemboy” Baltazar....

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Muntinlupa City recognizes Barangay Sucat in the first-ever Search for Most Resilient Barangay
  • Active ODA loans to Philippines reached $32.4 billion in 2022
  • Cebu developer investing in Uy’s casino firm
  • Hunter Biden to plead not guilty to gun charges
  • DHSUD highlights PBBM’s Pambansang Pabahay in celebration of National Shelter Month
  • PMFTC launches IQOS ILUMA in the Philippines
  • EU seeks to protect sensitive tech from Chinese buyers
  • Hardline US Republican launches bid to oust House speaker

Advertisement

Latest News

PMFTC launches IQOS ILUMA in the Philippines

byManila Standard Business
October 3, 2023, 11:13 am
0
8
PMFTC launches IQOS ILUMA in the Philippines

PMFTC Inc., the local affiliate of Philip Morris International (PMI), announced Tuesday the launch of the next-level tobacco innovation IQOS...

Read more

EU seeks to protect sensitive tech from Chinese buyers

byAFP
October 3, 2023, 11:00 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

By Raziye Akkoc Brussels, Belgium -- The EU will signal Tuesday how Brussels will muscle up to counter China's aggressive...

Read more

Hardline US Republican launches bid to oust House speaker

byAFP
October 3, 2023, 10:43 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

By Camille Camdessus Washington, United States -- A far-right lawmaker launched a bid on Monday to oust US House Speaker...

Read more

UN approves Haiti force after year of pleas

byAFP
October 3, 2023, 9:00 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

By Amelie Bottollier-Depois United Nations, United States -- The United Nations Security Council on Monday approved a Kenyan-led mission aiming...

Read more

EU pledges lasting support at ‘historic’ Kyiv meeting

byAFP
October 3, 2023, 8:00 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

By Florent Vergnes Kyiv, Ukraine -- The European Union reiterated its long-term support for Ukraine on Monday as its foreign...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Pets
  • Tech
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Cravings
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Agriculture
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App