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The Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) has received information that individuals or group of persons representing MASA MART BUSINESS CENTER have been soliciting investment from the public. It appears that MASA MART BUSINESS CENTER operates under different registrations, to wit:1.MASA MART BUSINESS CENTEROPC(MMBC OPC) -a corporation registered with the Commission on 11 March 2020 under Company Registration No. 2020030000224-00; and2.MASA MART BUSINESS CENTER-registered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) with Certificate No. 1514401 issued on 29 January 2020.Records of the Commission further showed that another entity, MASA MART ENTERPRISE OPC(“MME OPC”), a corporation registered with the Commission on 09 March 2020 under Company Registration No. 202003000157-01alsooperates out of the same principal address as MMBC OPC at MARC IV 9056, Jose Abad Santos Ave., Salawag 4114 City of Dasmariñas, Cavite Philippines. Both MMBC OPC and MME OPC are under the name of JESSIE R. ROYO as its single stockholder/director/president with the same nominee and alternate nominee namely, Annabelle Tansiongco Muros and Emery Jestine Palevino Royo. The name of Jessie R. Royo also appeared in the DTI Business Name Registration System Portal. It may be recalled that the Commission issued an Advisory dated 14 April 2020 against TBCMMP1MASA MART INC.(“TBCMMP”)a registered corporation with SEC Registration No. CS201815816 issued on 31 July 2018.Based on its Articles of Incorporation, it appears that Jessie R. Royois the President. Based on information gathered by the Commission, MASA MART BUSINESS CENTER and its related entities appears to be adopting the same scheme of TBCMMP and still offers the SUBSCRIPTION AND GAINS PROGRAM. Under this program, a member may invest for as low as One Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Pesos (Php1,250)up to Five Hundred Million Pesos (Php 500,000,000.00) and promises, depending on the selected lock-in period (i.e., 3 1TBCMMP stands for The Billion Coin Masa Mart Program.
months, 6 months, and 1 year), a return ranging from Two Thousand Seven Hundred Forty Six (Php 2,746)up to Eleven Billion Six Hundred Forty Nine Million Forty-Two Thousand Five Hundred Sixty-Three Pesos (Php11,649,042,563.00),respectively. Noticeably, almost the same compensation plan can be found in the Commission’s Advisory against TBCMMP, to wit: Similar to the TBCMMP scheme, payment of a minimum subscription of Twenty Five Dollars (USD25)or One Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Pesos (P1,250.00)to the maximum subscription of USD10,000,000 or Five Hundred Million (P500,000,000.00) in MASA MART, entitles the investor to a “gain” ranging from thirty percent(30%) monthly up to two thousand five sixty-one and eighty-one percent (2561.81%) per annum. The gain depends on the option availed of by the investor, i.e., monthly or a “lock-in” period of 3 months, 6 months or 1 year. Notably, the following are the other programs offered by MASA MART, namely: (1) The MMBC P5,888 Combo Package-where aside from Php6,000 worth of products, the investment earns Php78.4 per day or a total of Twenty Thousand (Php 20,000)after six (6) months; (2) Do It Yourself Subscription of 24 Months, Roll-Over Program-where an investor can opt to invest: (a) Php 20,000 which becomes Php100,000 in a year or Php
12 Million in 2 years; (b) Php 35,328 which for a lock-in period of 6 months, with a daily earning of Php.78.40 a day, turns into Php120,000 in a year; and (c) Php 100,000which becomes Php500,000 in a year or Php 63.4 Million in 2 years; and (3) The United Masa Coin (UMC), now known as XUM Coin and the Umc USDTbot- where for investments ranging from Php1,250 to Php100,000 there are corresponding equivalents in USDT or Tether(worth Php50 or $1 = equivalent to 10 XUMs)or XUM(1 XUM is worth Php5)with packages from 3 months to a year with compounding and monthly payouts with referral system; 4) Referral Program where for recruiting other members, entitles an investor to incentives such as a car or a house and lot. Please be informed that MASA MART BUSINESS CENTEROPC and MASA MART ENTERPRISE OPC registered as One Person Corporations under the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines and MASA MART BUSINESS CENTER, registered with the DTI are not authorized to solicit investments from the public as they did not secure prior registration and/or license to solicit investments from the Commission as prescribed under Section 8 of the Securities Regulation Code. It is to be emphasized that the registrations of MASA MART BUSINESS CENTEROPC. and MASA MART ENTERPRISE OPC with the Commission and MASA MART BUSINESS CENTER with the DTI, for that matter, merely grants juridical personalities to the entities but do not authorize them to issue, sell or offer for sale securities to the public nor undertake business activities requiring a secondary license from the Commission. The public is hereby warned that such investment schemes are considered as securities subject to the regulatory authority of this Commission. The offering and selling of securities to the public without a permit or license is a violation of Section 8.1. of the Securities Regulation Code. MASA MART BUSINESS CENTEROPC, MASA MART ENTERPRISE OPC and MASA MART BUSINESS CENTER also do not appear among the registered banks, exchanges or companies engaged in digital assets with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in accordance with the GUIDELINES FOR VIRTUAL CURRENCY EXCHANGES (BSP CIRCULAR NO. 944) which requires all entities engaged in Virtual Currencies in the Philippines to obtain a Certificate of Registration to operate as remittance and transfer company pursuant to the BSP rules and regulations. Moreover, both UNITED MASA COIN (UMC) and X United Masa (XUM) are not included among the list ofthe generally accepted virtual currencies posted on the World Coin Index and Coin Market Cap websites. Worse, it appears that no open exchanges allow the trading of UMC and XUMso MASA MART seemingly manages its own digital exchange platform contrary to Sections 32 of the SRC on the “Prohibition on Use of Unregistered Exchange.”
Accordingly, those who invite or recruit other people to join or invest in this venture or offer investment contracts or securities to the public may be held criminally liable under Section 28 of the SRC penalized with a maximum fine of Five Million Pesos (P 5,000,000.00) or imprisonment of Twenty One (21) years or both pursuant to Section 73 of the SRC (SEC vs. Oudine Santos G.R. No. 195542, 19 March 2014).In view thereof, the public is hereby advised to exercise caution before investing in these kinds of activities and to take the necessary precautions in dealing with MASA MART BUSINESS CENTEROPC., MASA MART ENTERPRISE OPC, MASA MART BUSINESS CENTER and its related entities or its representatives. In view thereof, the public is further advised NOT TO INVEST or TO STOP INVESTING in any investment scheme being offered by aforesaid entities/individuals. Should you have any information regarding the operation of the subject entity, please call the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department at telephone numbers 8818-6047 or send your report to the EIPD at epd@sec.gov.ph. For the guidance of the public. Pasay City, 12 January 2020.