By Martin A. Sadongdong
A woman who allegedly defrauded investors of over R148 million through the “Ponzi” scheme faced her angry victims after being presented by the Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
The suspect, Margarita Huang, was arrested by members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group’s Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Unit (CIDG-AFCCU) on May 24 in a condominium tower in Barangay Santo Cristo, Quezon City.
PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said Huang was accused in 12 separate criminal cases of estafa filed before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branches 40 and 85, and Makati City RTC Branch 148 with outstanding warrants of arrest issued by the three courts.
According to Albayalde, the cases stemmed from at least 423 bouncing checks issued by Huang and her husband, Gary, to at least 29 investors in a purported money-lending family business back in 2015.
According to investigation, the suspects would entice their victims to lend a minimum of P250,000 with a promised four to 15 percent return of investment rate per month.
Albayalde said the bouncing checks amounted to P130.5 million but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reported that it could reach as high as P148 million issued to 46 victims.
