Posted on June 10, 2012 09:43:46 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
THE SECURITIES and Exchange Commission
(SEC) has ordered Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco) to stop selling
condotel units in a Baguio City ecozone as permits had not been issued for a
leaseback scheme the firm was using to market the assets.
Last June 7, the corporate regulator
issued a seven-page cease-and-desist order against the Sobrepeña-led developer
for allegedly failing to register guarantee schemes behind the property sales,
which the SEC classified as investment contracts.
Under CJHDevco’s scheme, buyers of The
Manor and The Suites units are to surrender to the company the management and
possession of the units, allowing the buyers to earn a proportionate 70% of the
“pooled” units’ annual income, or an 8% guaranteed return on their respective
investments.
Buyers will be able to use their units
exclusive of monthly dues and utility fees for a period of time under a scheme
intended to run for 15 years beginning 2016, renewable for another 15 years
until 2046 -- the same year buyers are expected redeem the purchase price they
originally paid for the units, the state agency Bases Conversion and
Development Authority (BCDA) said in a statement.
The BCDA had sued the developer for
unpaid lease at the Camp John Hay special economic zone and had also added a
string of lawsuits to the dispute which now include estafa complaints.
CJHDevco has yet to deliver the
promised condotel units to buyers, as well as various golf club shares, the
BCDA claimed.
The latest SEC ban order comes on top
of a similar Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board ruling banning the sale of
units at The Suites due to the lack of permits to sell and an array of fire
safety violations there, according to a survey conducted the Bureau of Fire
Protection, the BCDA said further in the statement.
“CJHDevco is profiting at the expense
of the government and the public, and have even put public safety at risk
because of their refusal to comply with government regulations,” the BCDA said.
CJHDevco officials could not be
immediately reached to comment.
The BCDA, established in 1992, is
engaged in public-private partnerships on public infrastructure, including
airports, seaports, and real estate, having developed former US military base
lands and Metro Manila camps into economic and investment locations, according
to its Web site.
In addition to the BCDA-administered
zones in Pampanga, Baguio City, La Union, and Bataan, the agency is also
developing Bonifacio Global City and Newport City in Taguig and Pasay cities.
The agency is also set to develop the
Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga, Poro Point
Freeport Zone’s San Fernando International Seaport, and San Fernando Airport in
La Union. -- FJGDLF
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