The price of greed
November 19, 2012 | Opinion
By AMADO P. MACASAET
MALAYA
‘Another scandal similar to Aman Futures and Multitel will come up. There will always be one for as long as there are suckers to bleed.’
No matter how hard I try, I cannot get myself to shed tears for the victims of the pyramid scam said to have been successfully carried out by a company founded by a Malaysian Filipino.
To the victims, I say, serves you right. You paid handsomely for your greed.
I stood alone fighting Multitel, a pyramiding company organized by Rose Baladjay.
It accumulated hundreds of millions of pesos and had physicians, retired and active generals for victims.
The trick was simple. MultiteI and its agents offered handsome interest income – say 5 percent a month to retired state employees, mostly teachers. The company would issue postdated checks for the principal and interest.
At the start, the checks would clear on maturity date. Usually, the retiree would roll his money over. And he or she would spread the word. More suckers and greedy people would come in investing bigger amounts or whatever they could afford, sometimes borrow. They wanted to take advantage of a-once-in-a-life time chance to get rich quick.
All in good time bigger greedy people would come in and invest millions. The trick was Baladjay or her agents would solicit investments that paid 7 percent a month immediately after accepting a placement of, say, P1 million with a yield of 5 percent.
By maturity time, Multitel would have enticed some investors for 7 percent monthly yield. The placement of P1 million for 5 percent was covered. More investors would come in.
Multitel would raise the interest rate to as high 10-12 per cent. When the amounts become so big, many investors would feel they should cash in. By that time, the pyramid could no longer find suckers.
The checks would bounce in succession. The scam would blow up in everybody’s face.
Authorities would arrest the brains of the pyramid, if they could find them.
As far as I can recall, Rose Baladjay is now in a comfortable prison cell in Makati City.
Geronimo Sy, lawyer of the Department of Justice, prosecuted Rose Baladjay. He even asked me to swear that I would not stop exposing her dirty deal.
I could only reply that I will continue with the expose for as long as there are people who come to me complaining they have been had.
Her crime of syndicated estafa is not entitled to bail. The assets of Multitel are supposed to be seized by the state and sold. The proceeds are to be used to pay off the company’s mountain of debts.
The value of the assets was far too small compared with liabilities. The investors lost their life-time savings. Some pledged assets to the banks for a loan to invest in the scam they thought was a legitimate business. Their assets were foreclosed.
The suckers, being possessed by greed, refuse to learn one simple lesson. If money were that easy to make, why would the scam artist want to share the business with others?
The suckers never look at the “investments†that way. They are attracted by the promise of big, quick wealth. They compute their interest incomes. They never consider the safety of the principal.
The victims are invariably impressed by big names. Multitel had its inauguration at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. At least two senators came as guests.
Their presence had the effect of lending legitimacy to Multitel scam. When Baladjay learned that she had no way out, she tried a stupid trick. She sent an emissary to tell me that $300 million was on its way to Multitel from the International Monetary Fund.
I felt she was insulting my intelligence since I know that the IMF lends only to central banks. The tall tale convinced me that Multitel was involved in a pyramid racket.
The last effort at trying to get me to stop publishing the complaints of the victims was the visit of Mrs. Baladjay’s alleged representative who told me that Multitel is backed up by a retired general. He suggested that I could benefit from Multitel if I cooperated.
Immediately, I showed him the door.
At one time for at least two weeks, investor-victims came to my office in the dozens presenting to me the bounced checks issued by Multitel.
So the scam finally exploded in the faces of the con artists and the greedy investors. They were had.
Thousands of victims would come forward to file complaints, but the familiar names in high society and business stayed in the shadows. They would never have their friends know they were suckers because of their greed and stupidity.
It takes only about 10 years to develop a new group of suckers. The scandal of Multitel happened about 12 years ago. Now we have Aman Futures of Pagadian City, and one of its victims was the mayor himself.
The modus operandi in Multitel and Aman Futures is remarkably similar but suckers never really learn.
All in good time, another scandal similar to Aman Futures and Multitel will come up. There will always be one for as long as there are suckers to bleed.
email:
[email protected]Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=79967.0