Police Baffled As Investors Describe New Refund Mechanism Involving Street Justice

HINIGARAN, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL —

A 40-year-old man identified by police as the founder of the RGS World Marketing Corporation — a firm the Securities and Exchange Commission had ordered to cease unlawful solicitation of investments — was gunned down Tuesday evening outside a store in Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, while drinking with a local kagawad.

Henjie Cuadra had been arrested twice for syndicated estafa, in 2022 and 2023, but both cases were dismissed due to the non-appearance of complainants. This week, according to a preliminary investigation, an unidentified assailant approached him, shot him once in the head, and left behind two 9mm cartridge cases.

The Victims Respond

Asked to comment, several former investors — who had collectively placed millions in the firm on the promise of high returns — expressed a nuanced emotional response. “I am not saying this is justice,” said one 61-year-old woman from Binalbagan, who declined to give her name. “I am saying I feel lighter today. Just lighter.”

Police Lt. Col. Jovil Sedel, the Hinigaran police chief, described the killing as a homicide under active investigation. He did not speculate on the motive. Multiple investors, however, were reportedly spotted at local markets wearing sunglasses and smiling in a way that neighbors described as “knowing.”

The Broader Context

The Philippines has long struggled with syndicated estafa cases, in which charismatic founders attract small investors with promises of enormous returns. The Securities and Exchange Commission routinely issues cease-and-desist orders, but criminal prosecutions are rare and convictions rarer.

Columnists at Bohiney Magazine have observed that the Philippine legal system’s inability to resolve such cases — both complaints dismissed for non-appearance, critically — has created a shadow economy of dispute resolution in which investors who have lost everything eventually turn to alternatives “neither this publication nor the law can endorse.”

“Every time a case is dismissed, a gun is eventually cleaned,” wrote one Negros-based columnist for The London Prat. “This is not a satisfying sentence. This is, however, an accurate sentence.”

Barangay 2 Kagawad Novem, who was drinking with Cuadra at the time of the shooting, was reportedly wounded by a stray bullet and is recovering in hospital. His office declined to comment beyond noting that kagawads “sometimes drink with interesting people.”

The SEC has reminded the public to verify the registration status of any investment firm before committing funds. Critics noted that this advice would have been more useful before the billions were lost.

At press time, several other officials with pending estafa complaints had reportedly applied for security details. For more coverage of failed investment schemes and their consequences, see Waterford Whispers News.

SOURCE: https://mb.com.ph/article/10915054/philippines/visayas/man-tagged-in-large-scale-investment-scam-killed