legacy rural banks scam

[kermit123]

any one heard about legacy rural bank scams leaveing thousands of pinoys and western people broke and skint .Really bad thay think guy has robbed thousands of people out of there life saveings billions of php. And sec the body that works for the goverment looks like it wasent doing its job proply .i lost loads in pnbb legacy uninsured policys .L ucky the pdic is going to pay the insured deposits back there money as long as your in there 250,000 limits but really bad .I had friends that have borrowed thousands of pounds on credit cards to invest in it one guy borrowed 40,000$ on his credit card not good gaz

[somebody]

Read about that and heard about the huge amounts both people and money involved.

I hope all those caught up in the scam get helped out.

[fred]

Read about that and heard about the huge amounts both people and money involved.

I hope all those caught up in the scam get helped out.

If people had just not got too GREEDY and stuck with the 20% tax free interest with no more than 250K in any one acc then it would be no big deal as they will get the dosh back within 6 months..
The very fact that the PDIC were backing these Double your money products made them a tremendous investment all by them self!
Then came along the PNB22 with even higher rates of interest.. They were advertised as higher risk products with NO PDIC cover and even just a little research on Google would have uncovered warnings of a pyramid/Ponzi type scheme!!
Cmon guys..

The money is gone..and thats that.
Sounds very hard I know but you gambled and you lost.
These are Philippine rural banks fer cryin out loud!

[somebody]

If people had just not got too GREEDY and stuck with the 20% tax free interest with no more than 250K in any one acc then it would be no big deal as they will get the dosh back within 6 months..
The very fact that the PDIC were backing these Double your money products made them a tremendous investment all by them self!
Then came along the PNB22 with even higher rates of interest.. They were advertised as higher risk products with NO PDIC cover and even just a little research on Google would have uncovered warnings of a pyramid/Ponzi type scheme!!
Cmon guys..

The money is gone..and thats that.
Sounds very hard I know but you gambled and you lost.
These are Philippine rural banks fer cryin out loud!

Indeedy the "help Forums" had these experts who could fix the bank account for you etc. Very shady. All the freebies involved and the fact they were to good to be true on its own would have made me run a mile.

I agree never gamble more than you can afford to lose, and spread so you are covered.

Seems very strange that no word got out to the masses about the state of these banks books or did it cant say i take much notice of these banks.
I know legal action was ongoing but still how often does that stop the news get out normally speeds it up in my experience.

[kermit123]

well we did gamble lol and when me and my wife invested in these uninsured. it was a gamble and (easy come easy go) hay its only money lol lost a couple of million on uninsured but could have lost a lot more but i feel sorry for pinoys that borrowed money to invest in it. Diffrence here is if you lose everythink no one helps you with unemployment payments .you starve i have 2 new cars here and one guy said borrow 80% on your cars value and invest it ha ha ha i said no chance i have nice home and cars here and everythink is payed for.He did all gone or going very soon carnt afford payments on loans .But hay be happy lots worse of than us so SMILEEEEEEEEEE gaz/ maybs

[kermit123]

yep insured is great insured by pdic wowwwwwww had year at 20% monthly and get our money back early as well coundent be better lose 20% advanced intrest but hay i can live with that . rural banks are ok as long as you stick to insured amout like you said fred 250,000 we live here zamboanga our biggest bill per month in electric which is 5,000php a month and phone 500 php month so still lot cheaper than uk to live at moment and nice and hot but back to uk next year so see you all soon gaz/maybs

[jimeve]

So, Phil banks not to be trusted or just rural banks.

Which Phil banks can you trust, I am suspicious of banks over there and
their security.

[kermit123]

the ones with PDIC insurance are pretty safe i woundent say 100% but what is that safe . keep in the limits that PDIC put on the accounts I think some rural banks are still paying 18% now monthly into your account and if you use a good rep he ll give you half his commison back normaly 5% so million you get 50,000 php back in cash not bad only problem now is exchange rate cost you lot more to bring a million in to philippines take care gaz/maybs

[David House]

I am in the Phil right now and this is a big story in the ex pat community. I heard tonight of someone who has lost 100 million pesos and others with 10s of millions down the pan. I did not have a penny in them because I have always been nervous of anything which sounded too good to be true. My brother lost over £100,000 in a boiler room scam last year, so I know from personal experience what damage such activities can cause. I know that the agents were selling them on the basis that so long as you did not exceed the maximum insured deposit in any individual bank that your money was safe but there are "investments" outside that scheme as well as those who ignored the advice and got greedy. It is also rumoured that the PDIC may be wriggling about paying out because of the potential illegal activities within the banks. They may invalidate the cover and say that depositors must sue the wrong doers. There is also a strong rumour that the terms of the PDIC cover may be revised, with the level increased but the covered circumstances greatly reduced so that only genuine banking collapes would be covered in the future, and not these "ponzi" schemes. After all it is going to be the poor Filipino who ends up footing the bill if indeed the PDIC do pay out. Many agents were encouraging people to borrow from regular western banks at low rates and invest the funds in Legacy banks and live off the difference. I would not touch a rural bank with the proverbial barge pole not only because of the risks involved but also because of the interest rates they charge to the local poor farmers. It is scandalous and a much better system needs to be introduced to enable this country to grow. Westerners who seek to profit from this system get little sympathy from me when it all goes wrong. Rant over.

[kermit123]

yep i think new investers have to be more carefull. Becouse of PDIC new rules saying that after bank closes if thay the bank was useing unsafe banking pratices then thay wont pay out in futere but you wont now if its unsafe banking till thay close it lol. Nice rule if to many banks close.I wont put any more money into the banks if i do it will be small amounts split into as many banks as possible.well in 250,000 limit that is there now no chance on 500,000 limit thay are putting it up to.But i think that PDIC will pay out on banks that have gone under becouse thay will get a run on other banks if thay dont pay out becouse people will think that PDIC is a waste of time and you ll get a run on other banks ,PDIC have said that thay will pay out on all 250,000 limit investments any how most the investers who get payed out by PDIC will re/invest in other rural banks for intrest to live on here .im sorry but i think that if it wasent for rural banks then no one would lend these farmers money so you would have money lenders chargeing even more intrest for loans as thay do here in zamboanga and you dont pay money lenders. you loose your life as well as your land and im sure it happens all over philippines gaz/ maybs

[somebody]

I am in the Phil right now and this is a big story in the ex pat community. I heard tonight of someone who has lost 100 million pesos and others with 10s of millions down the pan. I did not have a penny in them because I have always been nervous of anything which sounded too good to be true. My brother lost over £100,000 in a boiler room scam last year, so I know from personal experience what damage such activities can cause. I know that the agents were selling them on the basis that so long as you did not exceed the maximum insured deposit in any individual bank that your money was safe but there are "investments" outside that scheme as well as those who ignored the advice and got greedy. It is also rumoured that the PDIC may be wriggling about paying out because of the potential illegal activities within the banks. They may invalidate the cover and say that depositors must sue the wrong doers. There is also a strong rumour that the terms of the PDIC cover may be revised, with the level increased but the covered circumstances greatly reduced so that only genuine banking collapes would be covered in the future, and not these "ponzi" schemes. After all it is going to be the poor Filipino who ends up footing the bill if indeed the PDIC do pay out. Many agents were encouraging people to borrow from regular western banks at low rates and invest the funds in Legacy banks and live off the difference. I would not touch a rural bank with the proverbial barge pole not only because of the risks involved but also because of the interest rates they charge to the local poor farmers. It is scandalous and a much better system needs to be introduced to enable this country to grow. Westerners who seek to profit from this system get little sympathy from me when it all goes wrong. Rant over.

I could see many phill voters wondering why they are bailing out westerners either brit/phill couples or even many long term ofw families.

I saw that many non resident phills in the US and im sure the UK were caught up in this mess as well.

As you say there is a nasty side to the Banks in the intrest your geting is due to the people paying it in Loans with high rates and they have little choice.

Kermit has a point in theory they have to pay out otherwise banking confidence is lost and people start hiding it under the bed or sending money abroad. This may cost them billions of pesos, but seems the cheapest option.


So I could see them tightening up the rules, but it would be very risky long term. The fact that the authorities were investigating the banks since summer 07 and yet said nothing to the public due to the threat of legal action. Would leave them in a tricky situation surely if they came out with a ruling saying its nothing to do with them.

As many countries have found geting those from abroad to invest in your country is very important.

[fred]

Gaz.. Sorry about your loss. Thats a nice few bob to lose(especially here) and you seem to be handing the situation really well..Fair play to you..
I know another Brit here that lost the same amount you did..I must say that he`s not beating him self up over it either..
His Mrs is doing that for him!

[kermit123]

when we took the gamble i said to my wife .who invested 200,000 php as well that it wasent insured and it was risky. But when it went we both said ow well we had year of checks.which did pay us about 6 or 7 thousand pounds so in fact we dident lose that much but if it goes to court and we get some back great if not ow well. comeing back to uk this year to have a operation (private not nhs) and hopefully come back to philippines with a baby.my wife doenst care as long as we have enouth to eat and pay bills.bills 5,000 php a month thats all so smile and be happy gaz/maybs