LARGE-SCALE ESTAFA, OTHER CHARGES AWAIT KAPA OFFICIALS

ON TOP of the charges being prepared by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), large-scale estafa charges will be filed by the Department of Justice against the founder and other officers of religious group Kapa-Community Ministry International Inc. for perpetrating one of the biggest investment scams in the country.

Authorities on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, also called on members of Kapa to come forward and file separate complaints.

About a third, or 13, of more than 40 Kapa offices in key cities across the country as well as the residence of Kapa founder Pastor Joel Apolinario were simultaneously raided by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday, June 10, on the strength of a search warrant issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court.

Bundles of banknotes and various documents were seized from Kapa offices in Cagayan Valley, Quezon City, Taytay Rizal, Cebu City, Tacloban City, Tagum City, Cagayan de Oro City and three areas in General Santos City, including the residences of its founder.

NBI Deputy Director for regional operations Antonio Pagatpat said they have not determined the total amount of money found in Kapa offices as they have yet to finish their inventory.

He said these will form part of the evidence against Kapa. Also seized during the raids were some equipment.

Pagatpat said the court will decide where the cash recovered from the Kapa offices will go.

The NBI is coordinating with the Department of Justice in the filing of charges of large-scale esfore tafa, syndicated estafa and violation of Sections 8 and 26 of the Securities Regulation Code against Kapa officials.

“It’s clear that Kapa violated the Securities Regulation Code and I am pretty sure that complainants will be coming out. This kind of scheme will not last. Only the first investors benefit,” said Pagatpat.

Pagatpat said the raids were initially scheduled on June 20 but they decided to conduct these earlier after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered that Kapa facilities be shut down.

As of Tuesday, however, authorities have yet to find a complainant against Kapa.

“We are still looking for complainants. Nobody has admitted to being a member or victimized by the investment scam. We would like to call on them to cooperate with the authorities to strengthen the case against the religious group’s officials,” PNP spokesperson Colonel Bernard Banac said.

Religion as cover

Pagatpat said they did not see any evidence of religious activities in the Kapa facilities.

He said Kapa founders have merely used religion as a cover for their illegal activities.

Kapa’s proposition is to encourage a member or follower to “donate” at least P10,000 up to a high of P2 million in return for “blessings” that come in the form of the 30 percent promised return per month for life.

Pagatpat said they learned that members who are able to recruit new members will immediately receive a reward of five percent of a new member’s “donation.”

SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino on Monday said Kapa is running a scam that is one of the biggest in the country.

Based on Apolinario’s claim that Kapa already has almost five million members as of June 8, 2019 and assuming each member has made a conservative “donation” of P10,000, Kapa would have collected at least P50 billion.

Aquino warned that such a scheme is unsustainable and Kapa will eventually collapse when it could no longer recruit new members. /