THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has advised the public not to transact with CT Loan Cash Loan and Credit Co. as the company is not registered as a lending company and is not authorized to operate an online lending platform.
It also warned that a fake Facebook account was circulating on social media posing to be the legitimate account of the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA).
The SEC said that CT Loan was not in any way related to or operated by CT Link Systems Inc. (CTLSI), which had complained to the regulator.
It said that “information was received by the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department from a registered company, namely CTLSI, that a certain webpage under the name of CT Link, representing itself to be owned and operated by CTLSI, is engaged in lending activities without the authority from the Commission.”
An application called CT Loan and Cash Loan Credit was already reported taken down from the Apple App store as of May 1, 2024 in response to CTLSI’s complaint, it added.
CTLSI is not engaged in the business of lending or developing online applications nor is it involved with CT Loan Cash Loan and Credit Co., the SEC said.
“The public is advised not to transact with the foregoing online lending application (OLA) or with any OLAs not in the list of recorded online lending platforms,” it said.
As for the fake PIFA account, the SEC said that administrators “Mary Peters,” “Marivic Orbe Meran” and “Rickson Papal” were enticing the public to invest online by offering highly unrealistic returns ranging from 250 percent to as much as 340 percent for investment amounts of from P1,000 up to P50,000.
A referral bonus equivalent to 15 percent of the investment received by the entity is also being offered.
“The name PIFA was used without authority by the entity,” the SEC said, noting that the investment contract being offered by the fake PIFA “is not registered with the Commission, hence, its offering to the public through social media constitute violation of Sections 8, 26 and 28 of the Securities Regulation Code.
Individuals identified with the fake PIFA Facebook account can be prosecuted and held criminally liable under Section 26 of the SRC and face a maximum fine of P5 million or a penalty of 21 years of imprisonment or both.
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