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CBEX resume back wit investors money for dia account but no withdrawal
CBEX resume back wit investors money for dia account but no withdrawal

BBC News

time3 days ago

  • Business
  • BBC News

CBEX resume back wit investors money for dia account but no withdrawal

Months afta CBEX bin crash, many investors don begin see dia balance for dia CBEX account but as di money don appear dem no fit withdraw am. Di platform claim say investors go need deposit $200 to withdraw funds above $1,000 while funds below $1,000 investors go need deposit $100. Checks from BBC Pidgin show say di platform ask investors make dem login into dia account do dem go fit reclaim dia money. One of di victim inform BBC Pidgin say im dey see im money but e no fit withdraw am back as cash. E tok say investors account don dey active but e dey impossible for dem to withdraw dia money. Di Economic and Financial Crimes Commission bin don announce say dem arrest some suspects in connection wit di scheme, while dem assure di victims say dem still dey conduct investigation. Inside one interview, Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of di Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, tok say dem don investigate 58 pyramid scheme. "We don go far on CBEX but we need make pipo know say e dey appeal to di greed of di pipo make Nigerians dey careful becos any business wey tok say e go give pipo double your money in three months run comot from am," e tok. For April, many Nigerians bin lose dia money to CBEX afta di platform bin promise dem say dem go get 100 percent return on dia investment. Tori be say na ova 1.3 trillion naira ($809,000) CBEX sweep comot from investors accounts, afta dem suddenly stop dia operations and investors no get access into dia accounts again. So far, EFCC don declare some of di operators of CBEX wanted for Nigeria and di commission tok say dem don recover some money back. How to avoid falling for CBEX trick again As di platform don restore dia app, dem want new investors and dem want make old investors put money back into di ponzi scheme. According to Federal Bureau of Investigation report e advise pipo make dem no rush into any investment scheme, make dem do dia findings bifor dem put dia money becos Ponzi Scheme dey always want di money of new investors to pay new investors. FBI tell pipo say na just make believe say di investment dey safe na why dem dey show pipo dia account balance but na trick to lure money pipo into investment. Di agency advise say make pipo ensure say dem get unbiased third party financial adviser bifor dem go invest dia money. FBI tell dem make dem inform di state security regulators so dem go fit conduct dia investigation to check if di investment platform dey genuine or e just wan trick pipo out of dia money.

Empty promises
Empty promises

CBC

time14-05-2025

  • Business
  • CBC

Empty promises

CBC Investigates Dozens of Filipino migrant workers are caught in an alleged pyramid scheme by a B.C.-based company while the owners flaunt a life of luxury Numerous former clients of The Promise Land Consultancy, now known as PLC Global Referral Solutions, say they have been denied or delayed refunds for the thousands of dollars each paid for promises of a new life in Canada — all while the directors of the company acquired luxury vehicles and designer H. Sepe, Aloysius Wong, Dillon Hodgin/CBC By Aloysius Wong With files from Lyndsay Duncombe May 14, 2025 Read this story in Tagalog. / Basahin ang artikulo na ito sa Tagalog. Rozana Solita was only a week into her new job at a B.C. immigrant recruitment company when she started seeing red flags. Solita was hired by The Promise Land Consultancy (PLC) in March 2024 as an in-house regulated Canadian immigration consultant, responsible for assisting newcomers in preparing and submitting their immigration paperwork. But she quickly learned the agency was charging illegal fees and fraudulently using her name and signature. Not only that, she says half the people there were tourists. Seventeen migrant workers on visitor visas had paid The Promise Land thousands of dollars to secure a job in Canada, but were instead working for PLC to recruit other foreign workers. In nearly all circumstances, employing people on visitor visas is illegal in Canada. 'The moment I realized that they were all workers, I told them, 'You shouldn't be here … you shouldn't be working,'' Solita said. Meanwhile, she witnessed the company's owners flaunting designer goods, acquiring luxury vehicles and jetsetting around the world. She now calls the whole situation a 'pyramid scheme' and says her hire was little more than a 'front to make themselves look legitimate.' A month later, she'd had enough. While the company's directors were travelling and living large in the Philippines, Solita quit — but not before downloading a trove of internal documents that demonstrate the scale of the company's activities. A CBC News analysis of hundreds of these documents and other client agreements reveals that over a period of nine months — between August 2023 and May 2024 — PLC charged over $2 million in fees to more than 150 people, and collected at least $500,000. Some included payments for services outlining an immigration pathway all the way to permanent residence. Many of these contracts also explicitly promise to connect PLC clients with jobs — but charging foreign workers any recruitment fees is illegal across Canada. People who contravene B.C.'s Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act can face up to a year of imprisonment and fines up to $50,000, and up to $100,000 for corporations. Neither PLC CEO Jose Mari Miranda nor his company have responded to multiple CBC requests for an interview. 'I trusted my friend' Michael, who asked not to be identified by his real name out of fear of possible repercussions, was one of the clients-turned-recruiters who found himself caught in the scheme. Michael said that Miranda personally reassured him it was all legal. 'He provided their certificates that they have in a way that they sound so legit,' said Michael. Michael paid PLC $6,500 for its services, about half of the $15,000 the company charged him. Upon arriving in Vancouver in November 2023, he says he was assured he had 'implied status' while his work permit was being processed, and that working for PLC would be above board. At the time, visitors to Canada were allowed to transition to temporary foreign workers provided they found a job with an employer with the relevant documentation. Immigration Canada reversed this temporary policy in August 2024. Implied work status for visitors, however, did not exist at any point. For several weeks, Michael worked as a 'client relations officer' at PLC and was 'required to close five clients per month,' per his employment agreement, which states his salary as $1,600 bi-weekly. 'Basically, our job is also to look for other candidates who might be interested to come here,' he said. But many of those candidates now see little hope of seeing their money returned, as the company ignores their messages or blocks them on social media. Filipinos are already poor enough and so desperate. These people are capitalizing on the ignorance of fellow Filipinos. Rozana Solita, immigration consultant Christian Rey Sualog, an accountant from Quezon province, Philippines, says he was convinced to become a client of PLC after being contacted by a friend in the same situation as Michael. 'I didn't trust them; I trusted my friend,' Sualog said, referring to the former PLC employee, an ex-colleague he'd known for years. Records show that friend had paid PLC $22,000 for his own application. So Sualog signed on with the company, which promised to get him a job in Newfoundland and said it would earn him and his family permanent residence through the Atlantic Immigration Program. 'I have a good profession. I'm an accountant,' Sualog said, explaining that he aspired to come to Canada to build a better future for his wife and three children. 'I'm willing to wash dishes just to move to a better country with better health care, better education system, better environment.' 'Filipinos are already poor enough and so desperate,' said Solita, who is Filipina herself. 'These people are capitalizing on the ignorance of fellow Filipinos.' Sualog was charged $25,000 for the package and paid the first two of four installments for a total of $12,750 — putting his family's only car up for collateral and borrowing money from friends and family to make the payments. 'That's a good-sized house in the Philippines,' he said. WATCH | 'We are just dreamers for our family': But after months of waiting, the promised job didn't materialize. He requested a refund from PLC as stipulated in the contract, effectively 'kneeling in front of them, begging them to give my money back.' It was to no avail. 'It's heart-shattering and I barely slept since [the] middle of last year,' said Sualog. Plus, in the coming weeks, Sualog will lose his car — an integral part of the family's restaurant business, as well as their main form of transportation. The ordeal has made him question whether he 'failed as a father and a husband' by trusting PLC. 'I despise them — and that still would be an understatement.' 'Indentured slavery': lawyer Michael told CBC News some of the PLC workers were paid under the table, in cash, at wages as low as $8 an hour — below the provincial minimum wage and the rates stipulated in their contracts. Others had their remaining client payments deducted from their salaries. The situation amounts to 'indentured slavery,' says Toronto-based immigration lawyer Lou Janssen Dangzalan, who has worked on similar cases. 'This is how a lot of modern-day slavery works,' he said. 'They're usually out of status and they are coerced to do work that they would otherwise not do.' In a joint complaint to B.C.'s Employment Standards Branch (ESB) filed in August, Michael and six other workers allege they were 'lied to and told that [they] could work for the company legally,' then 'coerced into recruiting other people' and 'threatened with deportation' before leaving when they 'discovered it was a scam.' On Feb. 19, 2025, PLC 'was provided with a Notice of Intent to suspend its certificate of registration to hire temporary foreign workers in British Columbia,' according to a notice of investigation sent by the ESB to the company and obtained by CBC News. The B.C. Ministry of Labour told CBC News that ESB is 'currently investigating 15 complaints' filed against PLC, but would not share further details. ESB has already penalized PLC $500 in January for operating without a foreign worker recruiter licence. Read more stories about immigration through the eyes of the people who have experienced it in CBC's Welcome to Canada series PLC also faces 11 lawsuits in B.C. for a total of more than $285,000, many of which were filed in small claims court. 'My printer almost gave up printing all the documents for the small claims and serving [them],' said Solita, who says she spent at least two months after quitting PLC helping people file cases before looking for her next job. Michael says in his time at the company, they were able to bring some clients to Canada as students or tourists — but none with the actual work permits that were promised to him and others. He says he and other former employees have been 'harassed' by past clients they recruited after the alleged scheme was first exposed on OMNI Filipino, a broadcast network that reports on the Filipino diaspora in Canada. 'We never received a single penny from them, from these clients,' said Michael. WATCH | PLC clients recruit more clients: Solita has also reported the company to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and Canada Border Services Agency. In a document filed with her complaints, Solita writes 'there was nothing for me to do as an immigration consultant, as they have no legitimate employers. I was just there as a poster child to make them look legit on social media and to gain people's trust.' CBSA wouldn't confirm that an investigation is underway, but wrote in an email to CBC that the agency is 'aware of the complaints against this company.' 'We are committed to investigating immigration fraud offences to deter non-compliance with the legislation, in order to uphold the integrity of Canada's immigration programs and maintain public confidence in Canada's immigration system,' said the agency, which encouraged the public to report alleged fraud to its Border Watch Line. Related Links 'I did not expect to be a slave': Amnesty International report exposes abuse of migrant workers Federal government to remove incentive for foreign workers to reduce fraud in immigration system 'Rising problem' of ghost consultancies hits man who lost $12K trying to get Canadian visa for wife Cars, handbags, international flights Meanwhile, PLC president and CEO Jose Mari Miranda has posted on social media showing off his lavish lifestyle with the company's other directors. Last April, he hosted his 35th birthday party on a yacht in the Philippines, taking a dozen people on a business-class flight to Manila. In a post on the now-deleted Facebook account, Miranda poses with an SUV while holding a $4,300 Christian Dior tote bag. In another, Miranda stands among five other cars he refers to as his 'babies,' including a Tesla. Dangzalan says he would be 'very upset' if he were one of Miranda's clients. 'I would probably break down in tears, quite frankly, if I've invested my family's life savings into a dream and I'm seeing that the person who's not responding to my emails or my calls is on a yacht,' he said. Another superior court case involves two local investors who put $100,000 into the company who now say that Miranda 'made various fraudulent misrepresentations' regarding his business. PLC has denied their allegations. He was really down-to-earth. He's very kind. You cannot tell that he's lying. Lilian Tanoja, former Promise Land client Solita says that her repeated warnings to Miranda about the company's operations were ignored. 'It's not that he's ignorant,' she said, 'because I tried to convince him to return the money of everyone, and he kept saying, 'Oh, yes, yes, yes — I'm working on it. I'm going to refund everybody and we'll be starting from scratch.' But that never happened.' 'Completely illegal': whistleblower Numerous other elements of PLC's activities are 'completely illegal,' according to Solita. Misrepresentations and fraud were common in the contracts, the immigration consultant alleges. In one instance, while the PLC directors were in the Philippines, she discovered that the company had used her signature in agreements with new clients whom she had never met to assess whether there was a reasonable immigration pathway they could support. 'I immediately told them … 'Hey, you are using my digital signature without my authorization,'' said Solita. 'I'm not signing an immigration services document when I haven't even met these people.' CBC News found 17 retainer agreements that name Solita as the immigration consultant, which she says were all made fraudulently. One contract is dated the day Solita applied for the position — three days before her first day of work — while another is dated four days after she tendered her resignation. 'Overall, these documents are bogus. It doesn't mean anything,' she said. In an email dated April 22, 2024, Solita wrote to three of PLC's directors to 'nullify all recent retainers sent out to clients, where my digital signature was applied' and suggested all existing clients be given the opportunity to pull out of existing agreements. WATCH | PLC contracts 'bogus': The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC), which regulates immigration consultants, wrote in a statement to CBC that The Promise Land is not a licensee, and that unauthorized practitioners (UAPs) should be reported to the college. 'Fraudulent use of licensee information is illegal, and unacceptable. UAPs pose a serious threat to the public by providing unethical, incompetent and illegal immigration 'services' to prospective newcomers to Canada who may be vulnerable to exploitation,' said CICC president and CEO John Murray. The CICC would neither confirm nor deny whether it is investigating the company, but several sources have told CBC they have been contacted by the regulator. Some contracts refer to an immigration consultant but don't name one. The majority are only signed by Miranda, who is neither a lawyer nor a licensed immigration consultant. Numerous contracts also refer to clients as 'LMIA Applicants,' alluding to Labour Market Impact Assessments, which are documents issued by the federal government to employers to allow them to hire foreign workers. These include a payment schedule, one of which tends to read, 'after LMIA submission.' But numerous legal experts have stressed to CBC News that all costs associated with LMIAs can only be charged to the employer, not the worker. Dangzalan says PLC could face 'triple jeopardy.' 'They're in contravention of not just one or two government levels. They're also in violation of laws in the Philippines,' said Dangzalan after reviewing one of these retainer agreements, stating that it 'takes a lot of courage' to put this in writing. WATCH | PLC could face 'triple jeopardy': In another instance, two weeks after she began working for the company, Solita flagged concerns that clients were being matched with job offers despite having 'ZERO real experience for the job.' 'I can assure you that TPLC has now refrained from doing this,' wrote Dominic "Daniel" Cuevas, PLC's director of employment relations, in an email response to Solita on April 8, 2024. 'Unfortunately as a young company we were easily persuaded and had been taken advantage of by our other partners in Newfoundland in thinking that this is an acceptable and ethical way of processing work permit applications in Canada.' Related Links This recruiter has allegedly scammed 'hundreds' of Filipino migrant workers. Some are now homeless Newcomers face double the unemployment as Canadians, CBC survey finds This foreign worker says he paid his own wages for a cook position that didn't exist 'You cannot tell that he's lying' PLC signed agreements with foreign workers or their family members, predominantly Filipino nationals, living in Canada, the Philippines and 18 other countries. The contracts go as high as $40,000 each — charged systematically based on the kind of job or immigration pathway promised, according to an internal 'pricing template' obtained by CBC News. The document also lists the price for a 'BC Office Job' at $25,000 to $30,000 — rates that raise 'alarm bells' for Dangzalan. Lilian Tanoja, a personal support worker in Vancouver who has been in Canada for 30 years, paid PLC $10,000 in July 2023 after Miranda promised to secure a student visa for her niece. 'He was really down-to-earth. He's very kind,' she said. 'You cannot tell that he's lying.' Tanoja started planning a life for her niece, and had already arranged for part-time employment for her alongside her studies. 'I was really excited that this is it — I can get my niece to come here,' she said. But after a year, there was still no progress with her niece's application and no refund in sight. So last July, Tanoja filed a lawsuit in small claims court to recoup her payment. Miranda agreed in a court filing to pay Tanoja back in five installments of $2,000 between September and January, but only paid the first one. 'I just want these people to pay. I just want them to go to jail or to be deported,' said Tanoja, who had to get the B.C. Sheriff Service to track down Miranda to serve him court documents. WATCH | 'They need to pay': On March 13, Miranda wrote a letter to the judge requesting an extension to repay his 'outstanding debt' to Tanoja. 'At present, my business is experiencing a significant slowdown, making it extremely difficult to meet all of my obligations at once,' wrote Miranda, who said he is facing 'extraordinary personal and financial burdens' as the 'sole provider' for his elderly parents and two siblings, as well as his husband, Dayrit, a recent permanent resident and co-director of PLC. 'I humbly ask this Court for its understanding and compassion in granting me a grace period until June so I can stabilize my finances and begin making consistent payments without jeopardizing the well-being of my family.' A tax return from the CRA for 2023 included in his court filings shows that Miranda reported no income that year. On March 24, Miranda, accompanied in court by PLC co-owners Cuevas and Christopher Wahl, agreed to a new plan to repay Tanoja in full by July 1. Tanoja has since received two more installments reimbursing her for a total of $6,000, but is still waiting for the remaining $4,000. Miranda did not respond to questions from CBC News on his way out of the courthouse. Worldwide operations, complaints Solita went further and called the company a Ponzi scheme, as The Promise Land, now rebranded PLC Global Referral Solutions, has also scaled to create more offices abroad in what appears to be an effort to generate enough cashflow to pay back some disgruntled clients. Last April, PLC announced the opening of a branch in Rizal, Philippines, northeast of Manila. It also posted that new offices were 'coming soon' to Bangkok and Dubai, and suggested it was seeking partner agencies in the Middle East. A Sept. 13 group email sent from the 'PLC Finance Team' to clients seeking refunds, including Sualog, the Filipino accountant, stated that the company was facing 'financial constraints' that 'have made it difficult to balance the refund process while maintaining business operations.' In mid-January, it incorporated an LLC in Sacramento, Calif. By late February, it had also changed its Facebook address to a virtual office space based in Los Angeles. The company has removed its Canadian advertisements and business licences from its website, and now claims to provide job referral services in 15 European countries. In June last year, it also advertised visas to the U.S., U.K. and Australia. In a statement against the 'fraudulent recruitment scheme' at PLC, Filipino migrant worker advocacy group Migrante B.C. calls on the Canadian and Philippine governments to implement measures to 'prevent such egregious violations of human rights and to provide support and assistance to those affected.' 'We know this injustice is not isolated,' said Jaela Villegas, a Migrante BC officer. 'It reflects the broader realities of labour trafficking around the world, perpetuated by profit-driven systems that prey on the desperation of migrants seeking better futures.' Last March, the Philippine government's Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) released a public warning against PLC. It has since watchlisted the company, preventing it from participating in its overseas employment program, after PLC did not appear at a DMW hearing to respond to complaints that it was illegally recruiting. 'It's so sad that this is still happening despite the many complaints,' said Oliva Macawili, assistant labor attaché for DMW, who told CBC News that PLC was the subject of the most complaints in her time as officer-in-charge of the Migrant Workers Office in Vancouver. 'I hope the Government of Canada will take into consideration what … PLC did with the Filipino workers. I hope they will [deal] with them and … ask them to return back the money that was collected.' While it would not comment on the specific case, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in a statement that it is 'dedicated to protecting prospective newcomers from those who try to take advantage of them,' citing the department's recent $49.5-million investment in its Migrant Worker Support Program. Life savings 'wasted' Michael says he now feels guilty for the other victims he helped recruit. 'These people are suffering right now because they couldn't get the refund,' he said. 'That money that we paid to this company is like our life savings and we feel like it's just been wasted.' The workers' families now have to send them money to survive in Canada, Michael says — a reversal of fortunes from their dreams of coming here to provide for their loved ones back in the Philippines. But Michael doesn't want to give up until they achieve restitution. 'We're not trying to do any illegal stuff. We're just trying … to get justice for what happened to us and to other people who got victimized as well.' For her part, Solita still supports a group of former clients of PLC — some of whom have sold properties or fallen ill while waiting for refunds. But she stresses that, ultimately, people need to file cases themselves if they want to see change. 'You have to help yourself, too. Because I can do millions of reports, but I won't be heard. I'm not the victim.' Writing: Aloysius Wong | Editing: Andre Mayer | Reporting: Aloysius Wong, Lyndsay Duncombe | Produced by: Georgie Smyth, Rachel Houlihan, Ana Komnenic, Kimberly Ivany | Additional research: Kate Zieman, Diana Redegeld and Patrick Mooney, CBC Reference Library | Videography and Photography: Nicholas Allan, Gian Paolo Mendoza, Craig Chivers, Dillon Hodgin, Basilio H. Sepe | Filipino Translation: Catherine Dona, Radio-Canada International Tagalog About the Author Related Stories Footer Links My Account Profile CBC Gem Newsletters Connect with CBC Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Mobile RSS Podcasts Contact CBC Submit Feedback Help Centre Audience Relations, CBC P.O. 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