6 days ago
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revoked the corporate registration of Ecomamoni Environmental Recyclable Materials Manufacturing Inc. for soliciting investments from the public without the necessary license from the Commission.
In an order, the SEC’s enforcement and investor protection department cancelled the certificate of incorporation of Ecomamoni for violating the Revised Corporation Code (RCC), the Securities Regulation Code (SRC), and the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act (FCPA).
In addition, Ecomamoni was slapped a fine of ₱1 million for offering securities to the public without prior registration and license from the SEC. The company and its incorporators were also ordered to pay the same amount as administrative sanctions under the SRC.
The RCC prohibits corporations from possessing or exercising corporate power other than those conferred by the law or by its articles of incorporation (AoI).
Meanwhile, the SRC prohibits the selling or offering of securities without a registration statement duly filed with and approved by the Commission. It also requires persons engaged in buying and selling of securities as a broker, dealer, salesman and associated persons to be registered with the SEC.
Ecomamoni was found to be enticing the public to invest in the company by purchasing any of its recycling plans, where investors were instructed to press the start button of their chosen plan every day to receive the promised profit.
It also advertised a “longterm platform” where investors were invited to register in exchange for monetary reward upon completing the required task in the chosen recycling plan.
The SEC issued an advisory against Ecomamoni as early as November 2024, cautioning the public against engaging with the group as it is not a registered corporation with the Commission and did not have a license to sell securities or solicit investments.
Ecomamoni subsequently registered as a corporation with the SEC in December 2024, with the primary purpose of engaging in manufacturing recyclable materials and substance in converting waste to energy for related works and activities.
“Such registration, however, does not provide corporations authority to solicit investments from the public,” said the SEC.
Despite this, the Commission received reports that Ecomamoni presented its certificate of registration with the SEC to convince the public of the legitimacy of its operations.
It continuously introduced a new scheme with higher participation fees ranging from ₱600 to ₱165,000, with the highest daily earning of ₱7,000.
“To exacerbate matters, the scheme being offered by [Ecomamoni], is clearly in the nature of a Ponzi scheme where the profits or payouts shall be taken from incoming investors or additional pay-ins of existing members-investors, considering that it does not have any underlying legitimate business from where it could source its promised return on investments to its investors,” the SEC order read.
Ecomamoni’s solicitation of investments from the public without securing the license to do so constitutes fraud, which is prohibited by the FCPA.
