Ray Education

Jun 12, 2023

Jun 12, 2023 07:17 AM The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an order against Casa Infini Builders and Realty Co. Ltd., Ray Education Directions Consultancy Services, and their affiliated entities to cease and desist from soliciting investments from the public in the guise of real estate related investments. The SEC En Banc’s order covered Baguio-based Casa Infini Builders and Realty, Ray Education, Casa Infini Realty Management Co. Ltd., and Ray International Philippines Corporation. These firms are doing business under the names Ray Education Directions Consultancy Services, Be Unrivaled Productions, and Sine Cordillera, and Casa Infini Properties and Development Corp. They have been found by the SEC to be offering and selling investments to the public without the necessary license from the Commission. The Commission also ordered the groups to cease their internet presence relating to their investment schemes. They were further prohibited from transacting any business involving funds in its depository banks, and from transferring, disposing, or conveying any related assets to ensure the preservation of the assets of the investors. The order was issued after the SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) found that the Casa Infini group and their officers and incorporators have been actively offering or selling unregistered securities in the form of investment contracts to the public. The groups were found to have enticed the public to invest in their alleged real estate projects in Baguio City either as a buyer-investor or partner financier. Investments collected from buyer-investors will supposedly finance the real properties claimed to be owned, managed, and operated by the Casa Infini group. The SEC order also identified specific individuals involved. Through the projects’ value appreciation, investors were promised a guaranteed income of more than P33,000 per month for 20 months. Meanwhile, investors can become partner financiers by entering into real estate development plans or programs, where they will be required to invest P300,000 to P10 million, in exchange for guaranteed passive income ranging from 3 percent to 4.8 percent in a span of eight to 20 months, or as stipulated in the contract. The EIPD found that the groups have so far persuaded more than 600 investors to participate in their schemes. Casa Infini Builders and Realty and Casa Infini Realty Management are duly registered partnerships with the Commission, while Ray International Philippines and Casa Infini Properties and Development are registered corporations. Ray Education is a sole proprietorship registered with the Department of Trade and Industry. However, the groups have never been issued a secondary license that would authorize them to offer or sell investments to the public. The investment schemes of the entities involve the sale and offer of securities to the public in the form of investment contracts, whereby a person invests his money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits primarily from the efforts of others, according to the SEC. Section 8 of Republic Act No. 8799, or The Securities Regulation Code (SRC), provides that securities shall not be sold or offered for sale or distribution within the Philippines, without a registration statement duly filed with and approved by the SEC. The promise or offer of profits or returns which are sourced from the investments made by investors themselves, as well as the offering or selling of investment schemes to the public without a license or permit from the Commission amount to investment fraud, pursuant to Section 3(f) of Republic Act No. 11765, or the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act (FCPA). These acts constitute a violation of the FCPA under Section 11 and Rule 11, Section 1 and 2, Paragraph (i) and (iii) of the SEC FCPA Rules and Regulations. “[T]he [groups’] unauthorized investment-taking activities warrant the prompt issuance of a cease and desist order as it operates as a fraud to the public which, if unrestrained, will likely cause grave or irreparable injury or prejudice to the investing public,” the order read. The Commission En Banc also noted that the terms and conditions employed by the groups have the characteristics of a Ponzi scheme, as they promise exorbitant returns with little or no risk to investors. related stories