MANILA, Philippines One of the accused in the Aman Futures pyramiding scheme wants to become the State witness

s against the firms founder Manuel Amalilio. Donna Coyme said Thursday she has already submitted her application to the Witness Protection Program last December. At the same time, she denied she was involved in the operations of Aman Futures as she reiterated that she is not an official of the company. Tutor lang ako ng anak nina Fernando Luna kaya araw-araw ko sila nakikita (Im just the tutor of the child of Fernando Luna thats why I see them everyday), she told reporters. She said she had knowledge of Amans operations but said she will only discuss it in court. Coyme, together with Amalilio, Fernando R. Luna, Nimfa C. Luna, Lelian Lim Gan, Eduard L. Lim, Wilanie L. Fuentes, Naezelle M. Rodriguez, and Lurix Lopez Dhurwen Duron Wenceslao (also known as Dharwin D. Wenceslao and Dhurwin D. Wenceslao) are facing cases of syndicated estafa. The Pagadian City court has already issued a warrant for their arrest. Only Amalilio remains at large. MANILA, PhilippinesPagadian City Mayor Samuel Co insisted anew that he has no involvement in the operations of Aman Futures Investment, the company tagged in the biggest pyramiding scheme in the country. Co, through his counsel, submitted a three-page counter affidavit on the complaint filed by a certain Julius Labunog. Labunog and his group allegedly invested P30 million in Aman Futures. The Pagadian Mayor did not appear on Wednesdays preliminary investigation. His counsel Angel Gatmaitan said Co will officiat e a Kasalang Bayan in Pagadian. Co is running for Congress under the ruling Liberal Party. I vehemently deny the complaint against me because, as will be shown I am also a victim of Mr. Manuel Amalilio (Aman Futures founder) and his cohorts and this complaint is nothing but a malicious and politically motivated harassment suit against me because of my present candidacy as member of the House of Representatives representing the First District of Zamboanga Del Sur after being City Mayor of Pagadian City, Co said. Contrary to the claim of Mr. Labunog, I have not entered into any agreement with Aman Futures reg arding the imposition of 4% tax on Aman Futures or to make it appear in public that it is a legitimate business. However, I admit that I have made some personal investments in Aman Futures, just like the complainants, Co said. Manuel K. Amalilio fled the country before the National Bureau of Investigation broke the news in mid-November that his company, Aman Futures Group, had duped at least 15,000 people of P12 billion in a Ponzi scheme. The funds reportedly allowed Amalilio to acquire eight planes and two helicopters, as well as two units at Upper McKinley Hills Garden Villas in Taguig City, a house in Cebu City and another in Dapitan City. The NBI initially described Amalilio as having Filipino-Malaysian roots, and using the Malaysian name Mohammad Suffian Saaid. The bureau later said he could have been born and raised in Tarlac province. Amalilio put up the firm early last year and started operations in Pagadian City, luring investors by offering them a return of 30-40 percent in eight days and a return of 50-80 percent in 18-20 days. The firm soon expanded to other parts of Mindanao and to Cebu City. The first investors of the company were low-income people but professionals and retired employees followed because of the promise of a high return on investment. In September, investors started filing complaints in the NBI against the firm for its failure to pay back their money. On Sep t. 27, Aman Futures office closed down and its personnel were nowhere to be found. In October, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a cease and desist order to Aman Futures to stop offering, soliciting or selling unregistered securities to the public. Scores of the firms victims then filed charges of syndicated estafa, a nonbailable offense, against Am alilio and his cohorts. On Nov. 14, the NBI confirmed that Amalilio had flown to Kota Kinabalu, prompting Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia J. Eduardo Malaya to work with Malaysian authorities to bring him back to the country. The Bureau of Immigration also issued a lookout bulletin against 38 people said to be involved in the scam. On Nov. 16, a 14-member special panel of prosecutors convened for the first time to begin its preliminary investigation of the investment scam. The panel was tasked by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima with prosecuting perpetrators of the scam and file syndicated estafa cases against them. On Nov. 20, the Court of Appeals ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of 23 Aman Futures executives and their companies. The order covered accounts in 25 banks and financial institutions. On Nov. 25, five of the six directors of the board of Aman Futures surrendered to the NBI as they feared retribution from irate investors. They were Leilan Lim Gan, Eduard Lim, Wilanie Fuentes, Naezelle Rodriguez and Lurix Lopez. On Nov. 28, the NBI filed in the Department of Justice (DOJ) charges of syndicated estafa against Mayor Samuel Co of Pagadian City, his wife and 10 others, after they were implicated by investors. The SEC also hit the firms directors for engaging in fraudulent transactions and operating without the proper registration, violating Sections 8 and 26 of Republic Act No. 8799, the Securities Regulation Code. In December, the appellate court froze an additional 141 bank accounts in connection with the scam, including 79 bank accounts belonging to Co and 29 to his wife. On Dec. 27, Fernando Luna, who was identified as president of Aman Futures, surfaced at the DOJ and claimed he was merely the personal driver of Amalilio. Luna told reporters his brother introduced him to Amalilio, who was in need of a personal driver. He claimed he was surprised one day when Amalilio sent him boxes of documents for him to sign. Luna said he found out later that Amalilio had appointed him president of at least three Aman firms. Luna also recounted that unidentified people destroyed and burned houses owned by his family and relatives, as some victims took the law into their hands. After the manhunt for the brain behind the scam was launched, two of the company's employees surrendered. Maria Donna Coyme, who is reportedly the chief finance officer of Aman Futures; and Jacob Razuman, one of the firms top brokers, are currently being i nvestigated for their role in the scam said the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police.[7] Twenty one Filipino police officers and two fire officers filed syndicated estafa complaint against the company. They said they were promised a return of their investment within eight days and a 50 percent to 80 percent profit for 17 to 20 days.[8] The Malacaan Palace has assured that the victims of Aman Futures should not take matters of their own, as authorities are doing their work to put to jail those responsible for the pyramid scam that duped thousands in the Visayas and Mindanao area. [9]

Gunmen related to the 14 December 2012 gunshot in Zamboanga City were possible employees from Aman Futures. Investigators said it was possible that the attack may be linked to the Aman Futures that is known to have victimized thousands, including many policemen. [10] In 2013, the founder of Aman Futures, Manuel K. Amalilio, was caught in Malaysia after pleading guilty to charges of holding false travel documents.[11] He was then supposed to be deported to Manila on Friday, 25 January at estimated time of 19:45 PST to be jailed the NBI siad[12] However, the Malaysian authorities stopped Amalilio's deportation and was sentenced a two-year imprisonment in Malaysia.[13][14][15][16] Some of the members of the Malaysian opposition in the Philippines disagreed in the Malaysian authorities' stopping of Amalilio's deportation during an interview at ANC. They also have questioned the jail sentence handed down to him in Malaysia.[17] MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to come up with a resolution on January 4 on the criminal charges against Filipino-Malaysian businessman Manuel Amalilio and his company Aman Futures Group Phils. Inc. The charges emanate from a P12-billion investment scam that allegedly duped some 15,000 investors from Visayas and Mindanao. This was bared yesterday by members of the special DOJ panel that conducted a preliminary investigation into the initial set of syndicated estafa complaints filed by victims against Amalilio and his men. The panel concluded the investigation after holding two hearings in DOJ in Manila last November 27 and December 27, and in Pagadian City, where most complainants and respondents reside, on December 17. Amalilio, who is reportedly in Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, failed to appear in any of the hearings to answer the charges despite due notices sent to his addresses in the country, including his house in Cebu. A member of the panel, Prosecution Atty. Mark Roland Estepa said they considered Amalilio's failure to attend the hearings and submit a counter-affidavit as a waiver of his right to answer the charges. "As far as the panel is concerned we gave everyone the chance to submit their counter-affidavits and in fact almost all respondents complied. If he (Amalilio) did not appear despite ample opportunity accorded to him, he has waived his right (to submit a counter-affidavit)," Estepa said. It took the panel just six weeks to complete the hearings after the preliminary investigation was transferred to the DOJ from the Pagadian City fiscal's office. The investigation process, under the law, should be completed in 60 days from filing of the complaints. Slight delay Justice Sec. Leila de Lima admitted earlier there had been a "slight delay" in the investigation attributed to the delay in the filing of answers by Fernando Luna and his wife Nimfa. Luna is the president of Aman and is reportedly Amalilio's right-hand man. However, de Lima she said the pace of the hearings on the case was relatively faster than the earlier syndicated estafa complaints investigated by the DOJ. Also, Estepa explained the delay would benefit the eventual prosecution of the case since due process would no longer be an issue the respondent can raised in courts. "We need to provide respondents their right to due process. In fact, the earlier resetting of hearing was agreed upon by the complainants themselves," he stressed. President Benigno Aquino III earlier directed the DOJ to immediately file the case in court to be able to secure arrest warrants, which could be used to bring Amalilio back to the country and also prevent other respondents from fleeing. Apart from the resolution, which will resolve whether or not there is probable cause to indict the respondents in court, the DOJ panel is also expected to decide on the bids of Luna and other nominal executives of Aman to become state witnesses. "Any request for coverage under witness protection program will undergo evaluation and it's not a simple process. Some respondents sought protection and have been put on protective custody of the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) pending consideration of their Witness Protection Program application," de Lima said. Luna and five other Aman board members--Leila Lim Gan, Eduard Lim, Willanie Fuentes, Naezelle Rodriguez and Lurix Lopez--have submitted their affidavits before the DOJ panel. They claimed they were just nominal officials and detailed how the Ponzi-scheme investment scam worked and where the investments went. The DOJ received at least 15 sets of complaints against Aman. Several complaints filed At the outset of the preliminary investigation last November 16, the panel chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Edna Valenzuela, initially received six sets of complaints from Pagadian City fiscal's office. These were covered in the investigation concluded by the panel. A week after, the DOJ received two more complaints from the Philippine National Police filed by police and fire officers from Pagadian City who were also duped by Aman. The NBI then also filed two other sets of complaints which both implicated Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co to the scam and two more coming from victims from Cebu City and Zamboanga del Sur. Mayor Co attended the December 17 hearing in Pagadian City but was still considered a complainant since the DOJ panel has yet to start a preliminary investigation on the complaints against him. Another complaint was filed against Mayor Co and City Treasurer Flornina Gerona. The panel also received two more sets of complaints from victims from Pagadian, Tigbao and Labangan in Zamboanga del Sur and Ozamis City, Misamis Occidental. Co, in his complaint affidavit, admitted he had tried to legitimize operations of Aman. In an affidavit submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) last Monday, he said he met with Aman Board member Fernando Luna and asked for several documents "to legalize Aman's operation." The local executive, whose bank accounts were frozen by the Court of Appeals earlier this month after investors implicated him to the scam, revealed that Aman head Manuel Amalilio even visited him in his office in the City Hall in July and briefed him about the investment firm. Amalilio, according to the mayor, submitted a certificate of incorporation from the Securities and Exchange Commission to show that Aman was a duly registered firm. "If only to protect the investing public of their considerable investments, during the interim of the submission of the required secondary permit, the Permits and Licensing Division recommended for the issuance of a temporary permit valid only for 60 days," Co claimed. The mayor, who filed himself a complaint against Aman, admitted investing with Aman after that meeting with Amalilio. He said he had invested P3,266,700 in Aman Futures under the account name Bo's Coffee on September 11 with interest of 58 percent after 17 days. He made another investment the following day under the account name Max's Chicken with an amount of P3,205,500 with a 60-percent interest after 17 days. It was until last October when Aman collapsed. Co said he was issued two checks in the amount of P5 million each. He tried to encash the checks in Makati City on October 5 but the checks were "dishonored and returned" for insufficient funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also filed earlier separate charges of violations of Republic Act 8799 (Securities Regulation Code) against Aman and its executives. The bank assets of Aman, Amalilio and Mayor Co have already been frozen by the Court of Appeals (CA MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE 3) - Manuel Amalilio, founder and owner of Aman Futures Group Philippines Inc., has been arrested in Malaysia, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Wednesday. De Lima said Malaysian authorities arrested Amalilio in Kota Kinabalu for carrying a fake passport and ID. She said Philippine authorities will fly to Kota Kinabalu later tonight to work on Amalilio's deportation. Amalilio is wanted for supposedly duping thousands of Filipinos in a P12 billion Ponzi scheme. Malacaang said that if reports are true, the arrest of Amalilio will bring justice to the victims of the Aman Futures scam. The Palace hopes that Amalilio will be brought back to the country to face the charges filed against him. "If it's true that he has been arrested, it will bring justice to those whom he has defrauded and we hope that he can brought to our shores," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters. The Pagadian City regional trial court earlier ordered the arrest of officers of Aman Futures Group Philippines, Inc. for the non-bailable offense of syndicated estafa. With reports by Noel Alamar, radio DZMM; Ina Reformina and Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News MANILA, Philippines - A team of senior agents from the National Bureau of Investigation flew to Malaysia to take custody of the suspected brains in the P12-billion Aman Futures investment scam believed to have gypped over 15,000 victims, NBI Director Nonatus Rojas said Thursday. The team left the country before dawn Thursday day to fetch Aman Futures founding corporate owner Manuel Amalilio, who was arrested Wednesday by Malaysian authorities for the use of a fake passport. The Malaysian officials were alerted to a commotion at a restaurant in Kota Kinabalu where several victims of the scam, who had checked out reports that Amalilio frequents the area, tried to apprehend him. When the Malaysian police stepped in, they found out his passport was fake. As soon as Amalilio sets foot on the Philippines, he will be immediately brought to the NBI where he will temporarily be detained. Four senior NBI agents will escort Amalilio at his homecoming, according to NBI deputy director for regional operations Virgilio Mendez. The team, he added, received orders to closely coordinate with Malaysian authorities for the immediate deportation of the Aman Futures boss. Immigration authorities of the Malaysian government took Amalilio, a Malaysian by birth but who renounced citizenship to become a Filipino, into custody until the Philippine government gets to secure a deportation order from Malaysias im migration bureau. Amalilio is facing a string of criminal charges (including two counts of syndicated estafa, a non-bailable criminal charge) filed before the Pagadian City Regional Trial Court, for allegedly taking P12 billion from unknowing investors in a scheme promising high returns --- a classic pyramiding scam, probers said earlier. Case information showed that victims were promised high dividends ranging from 20 to 80 percent for a maximum of 20 days. Amalilio went to Malaysia last year even before the investors of his Aman Futures, discovered they were scammed by his firm. MANILA, Philippines - Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co and his wife were charged with syndicated estafa on Wednesday, November 28, for his alleged involvement in the Aman Futures Group money scam that duped about 15,000 investors from Visayas and Mindanao. The charges come two months after the Aman office in Pagadian City closed. The pyramid scam, dubbed one of the biggest in the country's history, is estimated to have robbed investors of P12-billion worth of hard-earned cash. Co has denied all charges. Aman boss Amalilio nabbed in Malaysia Updated 2:57 p.m.) Manuel Amalilio, head of a company implicated in a multi-billion peso investment scam, has been taken into custody in Malaysia, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Wednesday. In a chance interview, De Lima said Amalilio has been taken into the custody of Malaysian immigration for "possession of fraudulent Malaysian passport and identificiation cards." A report on GMA News TV's "Balitanghali" said Amalilio was nabbed in Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday. Amalilio flew to Malaysia late last year after his company, Aman Futures Group Philippines Inc., was linked to a P12-billion scam that allegedly victimized hundreds of investors. Aman Futures is accused of defrauding investors through the "Ponzi Scheme," in which the firm misrepresents itself as a company engaged in futures trading and lured investors by offering between 20 to 80 percent interest within eight to 20 days. Deportation De Lima said Philippine officials are already coordinating with Malaysian authorities to work out Amalilio's immediate deportation. She also said a team from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), a constituent agency under the Department of Justice (DOJ), will fly to Malaysia on Wednesday night to arrest the wanted Aman Futures founder. Amalilio and nine others were ordered arrested by Presiding Judge Dennis Vicoy of the Pagadian City Regional Trial Court Branch 20 in connection with the alleged scam. Other accused who are already in government custody are Aman president Fernando Luna and his wife Nimfa Caballero-Luna; Aman incorporators Donna Coyme, Lelian Lim Gan, Wilanie Fuentes, Nazelle Rodriguez, Eduardo Lim and Lurix Lopez; and Aman employee Dhurwen Wenceslao. Gian Geronimo and Mark Merueas/KBK, GMA News

Aman Futures president, wife surrender to De Lima Two top executives of Aman Futures Group Philippine Corporation, the company linked to a multi-billion peso investment scam, surrendered to authorities Friday hours after a court in Pagadian City ordered their arrest.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Aman Futures president Fernando Luna and his wife Nimfa Caballero-Luna, both incorporators of the investment firm, surrendered to her. "Fernando Luna and wife Nimfa Luna just voluntarily surrendered to me. Turned them over to the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation)," she said. NBI deputy director for regional operations services Virgilio Mendez said the two were turned over to them around 6 p.m. Friday. Mr. Luna, appearing with his wife earlier in a preliminary investigation on the alleged scam, said he was the personal driver of Aman Futures founder Manuel Amalilio before he was named president of the firm. Earlier, he had claimed that he also lost money to the scam along with some of his relatives. However, he also admitted that he had signed documents as Aman Futures president although he did not know what those documents contained. The Luna couple and Amalilio, along with seven others, have been charged with syndicated estafa before the Pagadian Regional Trial Court Branch 20. The DOJ said Aman Futures used "false pretenses and fraudulent representations" to lure victims into investing money and causing damage to the complainants amounting to P46,665,069. Eight of the accused had been placed under NBI custody much earlier, while Amalilio was last spotted in Malaysia. On Friday, six of the accused underwent booking procedures and had their fingerprints and mugshots taken at the NBI: Aman Futures incorporators and employees Donna Coyme, Lelian Gan, Eduardo Lim, Wilanie Fuentes, Naezelle Rodriguez, and Luriz Lopez. The six had been in the custody of the NBI ever since the Department of Justice started an investigation on the P12-billion investment scam that victimized some 15,000 investors. The syndicated estafa case was filed Thursday with the Pagadian City Regional Trial Court Branch 20 under Presiding Judge Dennis Vicoy, who on Friday issued arrest warrants for Amalilio and the other suspects. KBK, GMA News Last Wednesday, the P12-billion scam perpetrated by Aman Futures Phils. Inc. on at least 15,000 people in the Visayas and Mindanao was frontpage news at the Inquirer. By way of background, Aman is a corporation organized to buy, sell, distribute and market palm oil, gold, coconut oil, manga nese, nickel, ore and agricultural products. The company solicited investments from the public upon the promise of paying interest ranging from 15 percent to 40 percent after 20 or 30 days depending on the amount invested. The carrot was made more enticing through the issuance of postdated checks covering the principal and interest payable. Like all Ponzi (or pyramiding) schemes, the promised interest rates can be sustained only by a continuous inflow of investments. The latest investments are used to pay for whatever interest and return of principal that may have been promised the earlier investors. When the pool of gullible investors dries up, or the investors start demanding the return of their principal ahead of their maturity, the whole scheme collapses. The reported mastermind of the latest financial caper to hit the country, Manuel Amalillo, a Filipino of Malaysian descent, is, as to be expected, nowhere to be found. The companys solicitors or agents are left to suffer the wrath of irate investors. Solicitation This scam was the subject of my column last October 19. At that time, the large-scale swindle did not attract public attention because interesting political issues dominated the news then. So I was surprised when, on the day my article came out, I received several e-mails from Inquirer readers based in the Visayas and Mindanao giving information about Amans operation in their areas and how some of their loc al government officials encouraged them to put their money in it. A reader wrote that, after bragging about the profits they earlier earned from their investments, the officials offered (and succeeded) to act as agent or consolidator to expedite Amans acceptance of their investments. The solicitation ploy worked for the officials relatives and close political associates because that spared them the hassle of lining up early in the morning or jostling with other people to get their money into Aman. When the investment scam unraveled, the local officials were hard-pressed explaining the loss of the investments they solicited and, unless they are able to placate their irate constituents, they could find themselves in serious trouble in the May 2013 elections. The Aman financial scam is expected to become a potent political issue against the officials who actively participated in its solicitation or are perceived to be closely linked to the people behind it. Hoodwinked Another reader wrote about a neighbor whose 18-year-old daughter works in Metro Manila as household help to raise tuition money for her interrupted computer technology studies. Rather than put her earnings in a bank as she originally planned, she sent them all to the province to invest, u pon her mothers advice, in Aman. When she learned that her money had gone down the drain, she accused her mother of lying to and taking advantage of her. It may take some time before the daughters trust in her mother is restored. According to an Ozamis City resident, the money loss drew violent reactions from some aggrieved Muslim investors. They took over a hotel owned by a consolidator who is a doctor and member of a well-respected family in the community. He reportedly encouraged, urged and cajoled his fellow doctors, professionals and other people to invest in Aman. As consolidator, he is reputed to have earned millions of pesos in fees from his solicitations, hence, the anger vented on him.

The reader did not say how the hotel takeover ended or how he and his family are coping with the change in the communitys attitude toward them. Stunned In Pagadian City, where no less than its mayor has been accused of complicity in the Aman scam, a reader said that if you w ere to walk the streets of Pagadian today, you will find a lot of semi-catatonic individuals. What hit them was worse than any Ondoy or Sendong. With these natural disasters you could at least rebuild. But when you hav e absolutely nothing left, what then? So now because of the greed of this Aman and his cohorts, the economies of small cities in Mindanao will greatly suffer. Already it has claimed one life by suicide. No doubt, if we go by past experience, there will be calls for a congressional investigation of the Aman incident, in theory, in aid of legislation, but in reality, in aid of re-election considering that the midyear election is just six months away. In the areas where many of the scam victims live, there will be no stopping the finger pointing among the politicians until May 2013. This issue will be squeezed to the fullest for its election value. As usual, in typical knee-jerk reaction, the Department of Justice has promised to file charges against the people responsible for this caper that has brought misery to thousands of gullible Filipinos. But knowing the DOJs track record in prosecuting criminals, that vow might as well have been written in water.