SEC Secures Conviction of 5 Lending Firm Officers Over Submission of Falsified Documents

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) secured the conviction of five officers of lending company All-in 7,000 Lending and Trading Corp. for falsifying documents required for their registration with the Commission.

In a decision dated June 25, Branch 47 of the Metropolitan Trial Court of Pasay City found Jerlie O. Singh, Erlinda O. Ocampo, Elaine O. Ocampo, Erwin O. Ocampo, and Amarjit Singh guilty of violating Article 172(1) of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) on the falsification of public documents by a private individual.

The officers were sentenced to imprisonment for a minimum period of one year and a maximum of two years and two months, and a fine of P5,000 each.

The SEC lodged a complaint against the incorporators, officers, and stockholders of the lending firm after it found that they submitted a falsified document for their company registration.

Specifically, All-in 7,000 submitted a certificate of bank deposit purportedly issued by Banco De Oro Pasay-Two Shopping Center Branch as part of its registration as a lending company with the Commission in 2017 to prove that it has a paid-up capital of P1 million, as required by Republic Act No. 9474, or the Lending Company Regulation Act of 2007 (LCRA).

Upon verification, however, the SEC found that the submitted certificate of bank deposit was falsified and was not issued by the bank or the manager.

“The accused, knowing or having ought to know fully well that the bank certificate is a requirement, and that their corporation does not have the money to put up the same, their reliance on fixers to procure such certification necessarily negates their excuse or purported lack of knowledge over the falsification of the certificate of bank deposit, thereby making them liable for the act,” the court held.

This marks the third conviction secured by the Commission under the RPC, bringing the total of individuals convicted to 17. The SEC has also scored 11 convictions for the violation of the LCRA with 92 individuals convicted. The SEC has also cancelled the licenses of 39 financing/lending companies to date due to various violations of applicable rules and regulations. It has also ordered 58 online lending applications to stop operations due to a lack of authority to operate as a lending or financing firm.

So far, the SEC, through the Corporate Governance and Finance Department has revoked the primary registration of 2,084 lending firms for non-compliance with the LCRA.