Self-styled agricultural businessman Kono Salinas has a simple pitch on his business venture Farm to Market (F2M): invest your money in F2M stock by buying poultry and hogs that the venture will then raise. The business will then take the investments, raise poultry and hogs, sell them for profit, and pay back the investors. Returns on investment (ROI) will come within months, with rates of up to 30 percent ROI.
With such enticing returns promised, F2M has acquired thousands and thousands of investors and established branches across the country.
But in the Cordillera region, the F2M empire is starting to crumble as investigations are now underway for what has been labeled a Ponzi scheme, as hundreds of angry investors are filing complaints against the business.
The complaints began to pour in when F2M supposedly stopped paying out investors in July.
The F2M model has been labeled by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a Ponzi scheme, where the money of later investors is used to pay dividends and returns to earlier investors, creating an illusion of profitability that encourages more investors to sink money into the scheme, until eventually the scheme operator takes off with the investments.
The SEC has also clarified as early as April of this year that F2M is not licensed to solicit investments. On August 8th, the SEC issued a formal cease and desist order (CDO) against F2M and all its branches, shutting down the scheme.
National Bureau of Investigation Cordillera (NBI-CAR) Director Daniel Daganzo said that in the past month alone, at least 100 different complaints against F2M have already come in, prompting the launch of an investigation.
While the investigation is still in the initial stages, the bureau is already compiling documents, affidavits, and sworn statements from the victims to launch proper cases against F2M.
“In fact, just in Cordillera there are at least 100 complaints. We expect more will come,” Daganzo said.
He is calling on victims and investors of F2M to come out and file complaints, noting that there are thousands of such individuals in the Cordillera region. in Abra alone, some 124 investors have been confirmed, with a collective investment of at least P18 million.
Daganzo said that investments in F2M go as high as P5 million per investor in the Cordillera, with many victims having taken on loans or pawned off property to invest, expecting returns.
While the investigations are still ongoing, Daganzo said that once cases are filed, the bureau will coordinate with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in order to ensure that F2M’s owners do not flee the country to avoid the consequences of their actions.
“Once we file the case they can no longer victimize other people. Let us work together to stop their fraudulent activities,” Daganzo said.
