THE National Bureau of Investigation yesterday said more “investors” are coming out to file complaints against officials of Kapa Community Ministry International for selling investment without the necessary license from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
NBI Deputy Director and spokesman Ferdinand Lavin said their regional offices, particularly in Mindanao, continue to receive complaints and evidence against Kapa and their officials led by founder and president Joel Apolinario.
“We continue to receive complaints and as we continue to receive complaints, we are also continuing to gather evidence, we will continue to file complaints,” Lavin said.
The Department of Justice has found probable cause to indict Apolinario and other Kapa officials for allegedly running an investment scam.
“We understand that it took them some time to come out and file the complaints. All that we ask of them is to trust the government in this,” Lavin said.
In a resolution dated September 25 but released only late last month, the DOJ said it found probable cause to indict Apolinario, his wife and Kapa corporate secretary Reyna Apolinario and trustee Margie Danao. Also recommended to be indicted were Kapa officials Adelfa Fernandico, Moises Mopia, Marisol Diaz and Reniones Catubigan.
DOJ Undersecretary Markk Perete said the scheme employed by Kapa and the respondents is a “classic Ponzi scheme” that offers impossibly high yields of return promised to investors.
The SEC, which filed a criminal complaint against Kapa last in June, described the group as a perpetrator of the Ponzi scheme, an investment program that pays investors using the money contributed by other investors.
The SEC said Kapa and the respondents enticed investors to place their money in return for a 35 percent return on their investments or “monthly blessings” or “love gift.”
A cease and desist order was issued against Kapa last Feb. 14 and its certificate of incorporation revoked last April 3.
The SEC also obtained a freeze order from the Court of Appeals last June 4 against Kapa and its key officials led by Apolinario.