SEC makes permanent its cease and desist order vs. religious corporation Kapa

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday made permanent its cease and desist order for independent religious corporation Kapa-Community Ministry International Inc. to stop soliciting investments without the proper license.

"In a resolution dated March 14, the Commission En Banc made its cease and desist order (CDO) against KAPA permanent after the latter failed to file a motion to lift the order within the prescribed period," the SEC said in an emailed statement.

On February 14, the SEC issued a CDO after it found substantial evidence that Kapa offered and sold securities in the form of investment contracts and in the guise of donations, even without the necessary licenses.

The CDO was then served by the SEC on February 21 at the last known address of Kapa in Bislig City in Surigao del Sur and at the residential addresses of incorporators Nonita Urbano and Junnie Apolinario.

Under the Rules of Procedure of the SEC, a CDO shall be deemed permanent if the respondent fails to file the appropriate pleading within the prescribed period, in this case, five days.

"Since it did not file any motion for the lifting of the CDO within five days from 21 February 2019, the CDO dated February 14 is hereby made permanent pursuant to Section 4-3 (c), Rule IV, Part II of the 2016 SEC Rules of Procedure," the Commission En Banc ruled.

The SEC has since urged the public to be cautious in dealing with Kapa and to report to its head office or extension offices any continued investment-related activities of Kapa and its allied entities. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/KG, GMA News