THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered Farm to Market (F2M) Agri-Farm OPC and its related entities to stop selling unregistered securities and transacting any business involving funds in its accounts “to forestall grave damage and prejudice” to the investing public.
In an en banc order dated Aug. 20, 2024, the SEC directed F2M Agri-Farm OPC and related entities to immediately halt sales as it did not have the requisite registration and licenses as well as a permit to offer or sell securities.
The cease and desist order (CDO) covers F2M branches and offices across the country, including F2M Agriventure, F2M Digital Raisers, Kono Salinas, Wonderboy Tumapang including its co-anchors, RPN DZBS 1368 kHz Baguio-Radyo Ronda and Martin Augustin, its agents, conduit entities, “and any or all persons claiming and acting for and in their behalf.”
The order further prohibits F2M entities from “transferring, disposing, or conveying any assets to preserve the assets of its investors.”
The F2M group was said to be offering securities through its “3 Months Paalaga System,” where the public is urged to buy a piglet for P5,000 in exchange for a guaranteed return of P2,600 for every piglet bought after three months, or a 52-percent return.
“[T]his Commission is convinced that based on the evidence presented, the unauthorized investment-taking activities of F2M OPC, F2M entities, and their cohorts operate as a fraud on investors, or is likely to cause grave or irreparable injury or prejudice to the investing public, if not restrained,” the SEC said.
“F2M OPC, F2M entities and their cohorts are making it appear to the public that they are buying piglets when there are, in fact, none,” the regulator pointed out, adding that the F2M’s Paalaga System is deemed to constitute financial fraud under Republic Act 11765, or the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act (FCPA).
It said that F2M OPC was registered as a one-person corporation while the other F2M entities had not secured the necessary licenses to solicit investments from the public.
The SEC’s Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD] also found that the address provided in the articles of incorporation of F2M OPC in Marikina City was a “sham” based on a surveillance operation.
The SEC already issued an advisory against F2M and its related entities in April, warning the public to exercise caution in dealing with representatives from the group.
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