SEC Facebook

ENFORCEMENT AND INVESTOR PROTECTION DEPARTMENT
SEC ADVISORY
The Commission has received information that individual
s
or group of persons
representing an entity named
AVZ
VENTURES
/AVZVENTURES
, INC
.
are
enticing the public
to invest their money in the said entity with the promise of high monetary rewards or profits.
Based on the reports from the public,
AVZ
VENTURES
/
AVZ
VENTURES, INC
.
has
been inviting the public to invest in their company.
In its
Online Advertisement
,
AVZ VENTURES AVZVENTURE
.
has been inviting
the public to join their company by investing a capital amounting to
Five Hundred Ninety
Eight
pesos
(P598.00)
which includes two (2) bottles of Buah Merah product, 2 flyer
s
and
b
rochure and 2 application forms with a chance to earn Php800 to Php1,600
daily
.
To proliferate its scheme it used two (2) websites: 1)
https://avzventure.com/
(active) and 2)
http://avzventures.com/
(no longer active)
Based
on
its
website,
the
following
are
the
operators
of
AVZ
VENTURES
/
AVZ
VENTURES, INC
.
AVZ
VENTURES, INC
.
is
enticing the public to purchase an Unli Package to start
enjoying the privileges it offers for a promise of receiving the following:
Further, in its Facebook Page,
AVZ VENTURES AVZVENTURE
.
is enticing the
public to invest by posting and advertising the income
being
received by one of their
members. Below is a screenshot copy of the said FB post:
The aforementioned schemes focus on the referral and recruitment of new mem
bers
to gain profit.
There was little mention
on how
to market
or sell
its products
which are
even
offered at a discounted rate of 30% up to 60% discount.
Rather, the campaign
, based on its
business plan
concentrates on the recruitment of downlines.
Stri
pped to its core, the scheme of
AVZ VENTURES AVZVENTURE
.
with its
focus on recruitment, is undoubtedly a pyramiding scheme masquerading as a Multi
–
Level
Marketing program and
its
business plan/
scheme
involves the offer and sale of securities in
the nature of investment contract to the public.
The pyramiding scheme, involves securities
because for payment of a sum of money, often nominal, the investor participates in a
recruitment scheme that promises
a stream of profits. The scheme that requires recruitment
in a binary or two
–
pronged structure takes the form of a pyramid, one that grows wider at
the bottom, and thrives with the supply of new recruits to the scheme. Here, the recruitment
fees collected
from new recruits are used to pay the recruiting commissions to earlier
recruits.
Thus, the Securities Regulation Code requires that these securities are duly registered
and that the concerned corporation and/or its agents have appropriate registration
and/or
license to sell such securities to the public pursuant to Section 8 and 28 of the SRC.
Per records of the Commission,
AVZ
VENTURES
/
AVZ
VENTURES, INC
.
is
not
authorized to solicit investments from the public as this entity did not secure prior
registration and/or license to solicit investment from the Commission as prescribed under
Section 8
of the Securities Regulation Code.
The public is hereby informed that
Those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents of the said entity in selling
or
convincing people to invest in the investment scheme it is being offered including soliciting
investments or recruiting investors through the internet may be held criminally liable under
Section 28 of the SRC and penalized with a maximum fine of Five M
illion Pesos
(Php5,000,000.00) 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
).
Furthermore, the names of all those involved will be reported to the Bureau of
Internal Revenue (BIR) so that the appropriate penalties and/or taxes be correspondingly
assessed.
In view thereof, the public is hereby advised to exercise caution in dealing with any
individual or group of persons soliciting investments for and on behalf
of
AVZ
VENTURES
/
AVZ
VENTURES, INC
.
The public is further advised
NOT TO INVEST
or to
STOP
INVESTING
in the investment scheme being offered by the subject entity or its
representatives.
Should you have any information regarding the operation of the subject entity,
please
email
the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) at
epd@sec.gov.ph
.