The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has lodged a criminal complaint against Abra Mining & Industrial Corporation, including its directors, officers, transfer agent, and specific stockholders for five years of allegedly illegal share trading.
In a report by Philippine Star, the commission submitted a complaint-affidavit to the Department of Justice (DOJ), charging those involved with 441 counts of breaches in the Revised Corporation Code (RCC) and the Securities Regulation Code (SRC).
Those named in the complaint comprised the mining firm’s president, corporate secretary, and specific directors. There was also the company’s transfer agent, Asian Transfer & Registry Corporation, as well as its officers and other stockholders who were charged with collusion.
The SEC added that it asked the DOJ to initiate civil and criminal forfeiture, along with the accessory penalty of asset preservation, and other necessary action, against the parties involved, as amended under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001.
The commission further revealed that the disparity between the quantity of Abra Mining shares listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), filed with Philippine Depositoary and Trust Corporation, and registered with the commission for a public offering was the reason behind the complaint.
In the complaint, the commission alleged that Abra Mining and Asian Transfer, along with their respective boards of directors and stockholders, were “acting in concert,” engaging in the offering and selling of unregistered Abra Mining shares.
This action violated Sections 8 and 26 of the SRC in connection with Sections 61, 62, and 63 of the RCC of the Philippines, to the detriment of the investing public.
Following an inquiry, the SEC’s Markets and Securities Regulation Department (MSRD) discovered that Abra Mining, together with its directors, executives, transfer agent, and some stockholders, had been trading shares without authorization between 2015 and 2019.
Thus, MSRD released a decision enforcing fines amounting to more than Php 560 million on the involved parties as well as recalling the registration statement and the firm’s permit to sell securities.
Furthermore, it had barred directors and officers of Abra Mining and Asian Transfer from carrying out their functions.
