As if we didn’t know yet, huh?

People of the likes of Michael Liew and many more before him, knows how to make good use of their capital here in the Philippines! They know how to keep themselves well-entrenched with the powers that be! They understand the Filipino way of life, the way of doing business with them. And it suits them fine because they came here purposely to scam. They understand too well the Filipino Culture, specifically, the Culture of Corruption endemic in this country.

When the Senate conducted a hearing on the PIPC scam, they noted that the Government Regulatory bodies were remiss on their jobs. They didn’t realize that they were rather negligent too!

This was not the first investment scandal that hit the country. There were others before this. The MIFE for one was a huge scam perpetrated over a decade and was only stopped because of the mounting complaints from investors. The money involved could have reached billions. As early as then, strict regulatory measures should have been put in place. The SEC regulations should have been reviewed! Oversight functions should have been clearly delegated and defined.

In Hong kong, Malaysia, and Singapore, where Michael Liew is from, they can no longer operate because of stringent legislative measures immediately put in place after scam operations were exposed.

“Only in the Philippines.” This is how most Filipinos would laughingly dismiss the issue. To many of them, Investment scams are ordinary , almost-everyday-kind-of-thing in this country.

Unless bribery and corruption is stopped, expect the scam artists to return!

Michael Liew set up operations in the Philippines at the time the SEC was cracking down on a lot of other similarly listed companies illegally dealing on foreign currency trading. He must have bribed his way around to get SEC approval! And, he had the gall to set up operations in Makati’s prime business address at that time - at the Enterprise…thanks to to his Filipino dummy and partner (who now claims he parted ways with Liew way back)(BS!)

Michael was able to scam Filipino investors because his Filipino partner who is a well-heeled businessman who holds sway on Makati’s innermost business circle, helped him! Michael was able to craft and fine tune his scam because he had a battery of lawyers who can skirt around legal regulatory obstacles and take advantage of legal loopholes. Michael was able to perpetuate his scam because he had a dedicated Filipino staff and a manager who had been with him since MIFE days, all ready to put their own futures and their own careers on the line for him. Michael was able to design this grand scheme because there were corrupt officials at the SEC, people who had helped his group make a mockery of MIFE since 1985. Michael was able to put the finishing touches to this scam and made an undetected exit because there were corrupt officers at the NBI who tipped him off before any move by the agency was conducted.

It was so since 1985! It still is now!

Tags: scams, michaelliew, mife

WHEN THE PIPC INVESTMENT SCAM HIT THE NEWS WIRES, SOME WRITERS DESCRIBED THE INCIDENT AS BEING SIMILAR TO THE LARGE SCALE INVESTMENT FRAUD PERPETRATED BY THE MANILA INTERNATIONAL FUTURES EXCHANGE IN THE MID‘80′S.

BUT DOES THE SIMILARITY END THERE?

FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, FROM 1985 TILL 1996, THE MANILA INTERNATIONAL FUTURES EXCHANGE HAVE BEEN MILKING THE UNSUSPECTING PHILIPPINE INVESTORS MILLIONS OF THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY, WHILE THE CORRUPT OFFICERS OF GOVERNMENT REGULATORY AGENCIES SUPPOSED TO MONITOR AND PROTECT THE INVESTING PUBLIC PLAYED COY WITH THE PERPETRATORS OF THE SCAM.

WHAT VERY FEW PEOPLE KNEW THEN WAS THE FACT THAT THE OFFICERS OF THE EXCHANGE WERE MERE DUMMIES OF A GROUP OF EVIL SCHEMING HK-BASED CHINESE BUSINESSMEN WHO HATCHED THE PLAN TO ESTABLISH THE FIRST EVER COMMODITY FUTURES EXCHANGE IN THE COUNTRY.

ALSO, WHAT VERY FEW PEOPLE KNEW THEN WAS THE FACT THAT THE MEMBER-BROKERS OF THE EXCHANGE WERE ALL HENCHMEN OF THIS GROUP WHICH BANKROLLED THEIR PHILIPPINE OPERATIONS.

AND WORST, NEVER DID THE REGULATORY AGENCIES, SPECIALLY THE SEC SUSPECT THAT THEY WERE BEING USED TO LEGITIMIZE THIS GRAND SCHEME TO SCAM PHILIPPINE INVESTORS. THEY WERE LED TO BELIEVE THAT BY HAVING ITS OWN COMMODITY FUTURES EXCHANGE, THE PHILIPPINES WILL BE SEVERAL STEPS AHEAD OF ITS NEIGHBORS IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. AND SOMEHOW, THE HUGE AMOUNT OF GREASE MONEY THAT CHANGED HANDS THEN, INSURED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EXCHANGE.

IT WAS TOO LATE FOR THEM TO LEARN THAT THE PEOPLE THEY WERE DEALING WITH WERE THE SAME PEOPLE RUNNING A NETWORK OF BOILER ROOM OPERATIONS ALL OVER AUSTRAL-ASIA.

AND, WHEN THE AXE WAS ABOUT TO BE STRUCK ON THEM BY THE SEC IN 1995 BECAUSE OF A DELUGE OF COMPLAINTS AND LAWSUITS, MOST OF THESE MIFE BROKERS RELOCATED TO NEW OFFICES, REGISTERED NEW NAMES, AND VENTURED INTO SPOT FOREIGN CURRENCY TRADING ,WHICH AT THAT TIME WAS HARDLY REGULATED , AND WAS JUST AS PROMISING ,AND JUST AS ATTRACTIVE TO INVESTORS LOOKING FOR "GET RICH QUICK" SCHEMES AS COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING.

IN THE ABSENCE OF REGULATORY MEASURES, THESE BOILER ROOM OPERATORS PLAYED "CATS AND DOGS" WITH THE SEC. THEY WOULD CLOSE SHOP IN ONE PLACE ONLY TO RE-APPEAR IN ANOTHER PLACE UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME.

GUESS WHO WERE THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PPIC SCAM?

THEY WERE THE SECOND STRINGERS OF SOME OF THE BROKERAGE HOUSES OF MIFE IN THE MID '80S. THEY WERE THE BACK ROOM BOYS THEN. THEY ARE THE PRINCIPAL SCAMMERS NOW.

HOW DID I KNOW?

I SHOULD KNOW BECAUSE I WORKED WITH ONE OF THE MORE ACTIVE BROKERS OF MIFE AT THAT TIME. I ROSE UP THE RANKS AND GAINED ENOUGH OF THEIR TRUST FOR THEM TO SHARE WITH ME THEIR DIRTIEST SECRETS AND EVEN SENT ME TO SOME INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS.

MY EXPERIENCES WITH THEM TOOK ME TO DIFFERENT DESTINATIONS WORLDWIDE. THESE SHALL BE THE SUBJECT OF MY FUTURE BLOG POSTS HERE IN THE COMING MONTHS.

THIS BLOG IS MERELY THE INTRODUCTION TO A SERIES OF BLOGS DETAILING THE VARIOUS ROLES I TOOK IN THE BOILER ROOM OPERATION OF A COMPANY WHICH WAS CONTINUALLY ASSUMING DIFFERENT NAMES AS IT SPREAD ITS POISONED TASK OVERSEAS.THE CAPER TOOK "THE UNSUSPECTING ME" TO DIFFERENT CITIES IN THE PHILIPPINES AS WELL AS TO HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, KL, AND US CITIES LIKE SAN FRANCISCO, SAN DIEGO, PALO ALTO, AND TIJUANA IN MEXICO.

SUCH IS THE MAGNITUDE AND SCOPE OF THEIR SCAMMING OPERATIONS!