Two fish farm owners will be facing charges of large-scale estafa, following their arrest by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) due to alleged scamming of several investors, including overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Dubai and Singapore.
Brandon Aviles and Neil Arias, executives of United AquaFarm Ventures Inc. at Laguna Lake, were nabbed during the weekend in Batangas and Muntinlupa, respectively, for allegedly not returning the promised interest amounts to their investors.
Senior Superintendent Wilson Asueta, Director of the CIDG-National Capital Region (NCR), explained how the transactions between the agribusiness and its investors worked.
“Mag-organize siya ng isang negosyo, ipapa-register niya ito . . . maghikayat siya ng mga investor. After several months, sasabihin niya, ‘I-rolling mo ang pera mo at interest,’ twice or thrice. Sasabihin niya later on, ‘Nalugi ang negosyo natin.’ Hindi na siya mako-contact o makikita ng mga investors,” Asueta told ABS-CBN.
AquaFarm has an office listing in Santa Rosa, Laguna, a Facebook page with videos of what they claim to be their facilities, and has been running for almost 5 years.
https://www.facebook.com/unitedaquafarmventures/
Aviles defended the business, saying they couldn’t pay back their investors because of bankruptcy.
“It’s a failed business po, and we are trying to revive it right now. And once po na makalabas kami dito, ‘yan po ang gagawin namin,” Aviles told ABS-CBN.
The rest of the AquaFarm leaders, including Gary Alfonso Alcasid, Rowena Alcasid, Arneil Arenal and Raymond Encinares are still being pursued by the police.
Source: ABS-CBN News
