Globe Asiatic operated a Ponzi scam —Pag-IBIG

“As the buyers are fakes, not a single loan amortization is paid by them. Amortizations are actually paid by Globe Asiatique. This is a fact admitted by Mr. Delfin Lee, Globe Asiatique’s president.”

by Eric B. Apolonio

Developer Globe Asiatique used a modified version of the Ponzi scheme to cheat the state housing agency Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund out of P6.6 billion in loans, chief executive Darlene Marie Berberabe says in a report.

A Ponzi scheme is fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors—not from any actual profit earned by the organization but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors. It always collapses.

The scheme is named after Charles Ponzi, who became notorious for using the technique in early 1920.

In her report to Vice President Jejomar Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Berberabe says Legacy Group owner Celso de los Angeles paid fake borrowers to become “instant” Pag-IBIG members eligible for housing loans, but the borrowers had no intention of buying De los Angeles’ Xevera housing units.

“Since the transaction purportedly involves the borrowing of money for the purchase of housing units, the proceeds necessarily went to Globe Asiatique,” Berberabe said.

“As the buyers are fakes, not a single loan amortization is paid by them. Amortizations are actually paid by Globe Asiatique. This is a fact admitted by Mr. Delfin Lee, Globe Asiatique’s president.”

Berberabe says Globe Asiatique exerted “painstaking efforts” to maintain all of its accounts in Xevera current, resulting in a 99-percent performing accounts ratio. That made it impossible to detect the fraud early.

In October 2010 Binay ordered Pag-IBIG to blacklist Globe Asiatique to stop the company from securing more housing loans from the agency.

“After Pag-IBIG Fund stopped taking out housing loans for Globe Asiatique, its PAR value drastically dropped and now stands at a measly 20 percent,” Berberabe said.

“This is further proof of the fictitiousness of the great majority of Globe Asiatique’s borrowers. The loan proceeds from Pag-IBIG are the same moneys being used to service the accounts.”