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

I met the guy personally in Singapore sometime in 1995 and again in San Francisco in 1996.

They were just cursory meetings through the people I worked for. As early as then, I knew Michael and my bosses were running Forex “boiler room” operations worldwide. Government regulators forced them out of California way back then and charges are still pending against these people.

I knew Michael as being part of the group that owned C&T Global a member broker of MIFE in 1985. When MIFE was shut down, C & T assumed different names and worked with several Filipino dummies who, I should say belong to the kind who would sell their souls and exchange their principles for the mighty big bucks.

Their modus operandi is rather simple. They strike when everybody else is looking elsewhere. They will be sending people here who are not yet in the government watch list. They will keep their contacts here intact and well provided for. And when things have cooled down, they will set up operations once again.They have a battery of lawyers in their payroll who would also do anything for them to set up operations here over and over again. I’ve seen it happen repeatedly. And I guess, I expect it to happen once more in the Philippines.

They can no longer operate in Australia. in Singapore, in Hongkong, and in the U.S. (And oh, by the way they tried Mexico City too in 1995!) Authorities there can not be bribed at all and new regulatory measures were immediately put in place after their operations in those countries were discovered. In 1995, before the MIFE closed down, these people hit China real hard and they were able to make a killing from unsuspecting Chinese farmers! (I know of some friends who became part of that scam operations and they told me about their horrible escape ordeal from Chinese authorities.)

Michael Liew may have left the Philippines, but the group’s presence is still very much evident. Their people come and go, hatching new ways to scam Filipinos. You may want to ask, how come they are able to operate freely here, and how come they are able to do it over and over again? First off, the regulatory measures in place have a lot of loopholes. For example, the Forex company operating from the Enterprise in Makati (also set up by Michael Liew) is still able to exist because of a legal loophole, disguised as a “research and facilities provider”. Second, Philippine authorities can be bribed! And this says it all!

Take my word for it…..more “Michael Liews” are coming! And we better be damned prepared for them!

I got this definition of “BOILER ROOMS” from Investopedia, (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/boilerroom.asp), and it clearly describes the method of approach used by PCPI and other scam operators.

“A place where high-pressure salespeople use banks of telephones to call lists of potential investors (known as a “sucker lists”) in order to peddle speculative, even fraudulent, securities. A boiler room is called as such because of the high-pressure selling.

A broker using boiler-room tactics gives customers only positive information about the stock and discourages them from doing any outside research. Boiler-room salespeople typically use catchphrases like “it’s a sure thing” or “opportunities like this happen once in a lifetime”

The SEC (http://www.sec.gov/answers/boiler.htm) further describes this as an operation conducted by dishonest brokers.

PIPC was a “boiler operation” under both definitions. But there is more to it than meets the eye. PIPC may have bandied around that it has an account with ABN-AMRO but the fact is, it is not a foreign currency trading account but a mere fund depository account. Their clients were probably misled into believing that their funds will be traded through the bank and will earn the promised interest.

During my own stint with a similar company closely associated with Michael Liew, I found out that their group, all “boiler room” operators, ( and mind you me they belong to only one group) have one clearing house for all their transactions and this is based in Macau. Whether this Macau operation is legitimately funneling all invested funds to the interbank market or not is something I did not have the chance to verify.

Here is what I surmise to have transpired with Michael and his PIPC!

On his own, Michael Liew may have conducted a foreign currency pool operation, pooling together his clients funds and trading them himself without his clients’ knowledge. The guaranteed profits can come from roll-over interest earnings on certain currency placements such as swiss francs which gives substantial daily roll over earnings on certain placements. But ahh, these interest earnings can be wiped out overnight if the price starts churning against his position. if this is what he did, and if the price did turn against his position, he really would have no choice but pack up and run as what the likes of him have done in the past. If his placements have deteriorated in value substantially, he knows he can not run away from his Macau connections. The choice was clearly to pack up and go, pay up his Macau connection and hide under their protection; or stay and face the charges that clearly will be slapped on him by his clients here in the Philippines. Evidently, he chose to flee from his clients and is now probably sipping tea with his benefactors and associates in Macau.