A 37-year-old alleged founder of a digital currency investment scheme that reportedly duped victims in the Visayas and Mindanao out of millions of pesos was arrested in a follow-up operation in Pasay City, the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced on Wednesday, March 11.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez, Jr. said the suspect faces 22 arrest warrants for syndicated estafa and violations of Republic Act 8799, or the Securities Regulation Code. One of the cases also involves large-scale swindling.
Out of these arrest warrants, 10 of them are non-bailable offenses.
The cases include 12 counts of syndicated estafa, two counts of large-scale swindling, two counts of estafa, and eight counts of violations of the Securities Regulation Code (SEC).
The issuing courts are Regional Trial Court Branches 20, 39, 18, and 21 in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, and Branch 33 in Zamboanga City.
Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) carried out the operation on Tuesday morning after police monitored the presence of the fugitive at the basement parking of a mall in Pasay City.
The arrested suspect was listed among the DILG National Level Most Wanted Persons as of October last year with a P400,000 reward for his arrest.
CIDG director Maj. Gen. Robert AA Morico said the arrested suspect is the founder of a trading club launched in Cagayan de Oro in 2018.
He said that the suspect is allegedly involved in the investment of “Ploutos Coin,” a kind of cryptocurrency or digital currency similar to bitcoin, he allegedly promised his potential investors huge returns, thus, received millions of investments.
Morico said a few days after the trading club was launched at a mall in Cagayan de Oro City, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) posted on its website an advisory indicating that the entity is not registered with their office. (Aaron Recuenco)
