A regional trial court in Davao City yesterday issued a hold departure order against officers of Kapa Community Ministry International, a religious organization which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused of running the biggest investment scam in the Philippines.
The hold departure order was issued by the Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 16, which bars Kapa founder and president Pastor Joel Apolinario from leaving the Philippines, reported Rappler. Apolinario is currently in hiding and said that he will not surrender to authorities unless his congregation pushes him to do so.
Aside from Apolinario, the other Kapa officers barred from leaving the country are Margie Danao, Reyna Apolinario, Marisol Diaz, Adelfa Fernandico, Moises Mopia, Catherine Evangelista, and Rene Catubigan, reported ABS-CBN News.
The court said they issued the hold departure order because there’s a possibility “that the respondents will depart from the Philippines to evade arrest and prosecution.”
Early last month, President Rodrigo Duterte vowed that he would have Kapa shut down for allegedly running a pyramiding scheme. He accused Kapa of promising investors a monthly 30 percent return on investment, which the president said was “too good to be true.” He also ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to arrest everyone behind the scam.
The Department of Justice has yet to file charges against the religious organization but on June 4, the Court of Appeals froze Kapa’s assets which were stashed in banks after the SEC and the Anti-Money Laundering Council filed a petition asking to freeze them.
Kapa’s cash assets are reportedly around PHP100 million (US$1.955 million), according to CNN Philippines. The government is reportedly in the process of sequestering other properties which the religious organization owns, such as nine luxury cars, a helicopter, insurance policies, and cryptocurrencies.
Late last month, Kapa members filed a petition at the Supreme Court to ask the government for PHP3 billion (US$58.623 million) in damages because they could no longer get any money from the religious organization. SEC chairman Emilio Aquino told radio station DZMM, however, that their petition will not progress because it was defective.
Apolinario founded Kapa after working as a disc jockey in an FM radio station in Bislig City, Surigao del Sur province, reported ABS-CBN News.
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