Concrete Jungle of Broken Dreams: The role of Filipino government institutions in the persistence and prevention of pyramid scams.

Abstract

A recent study conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines reveals that about Php 20 Billion of money from millions of Filipinos were pocketed by various pyramid scammers in a span of less than 20 years in the Philippines. Yet over that same duration, no effective legislation has been made that seeks to address the problems created by investment scam operators, nor has any administrative body halted this scheme. Let us review some of the stories of pyramid scams. In the small town of Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur back in 2012, Emmanuel Amalilio and his cohorts started encouraging people to invest in ‘Aman Futures’, a pyramid scam that acquired the necessary business permit to run the whole operation. SEC and DTI granted their business permit application and the local government through business permit grants legitimized their operation. In just a span of one year, all the money invested by numerous citizens of the city was gone and Aman and his associates cannot be found anymore. Investigations of the National Bureau of Investigation pointed the city mayor, Mr. Samuel Co have abetted the crime by encouraging investors and even issuing two business permits for Aman Futures. He, his friends and relatives, and city employees have invested a total of Php 42 Million and Mayor Co helped in the distribution of reward checks to the people. [Introduction]