00:27.9
Sometimes, they'll even offer 24% annual return
00:32.2
up to even 36% annual return.
00:35.8
Tapos sa mga ibang investors naman that have less than a million,
00:38.6
meron silang script na,
00:40.1
alam mo, normally we only accept a minimum of 1 million investment,
00:43.5
but because you're my friend,
00:45.1
I'll let you go in for half a million only.
00:48.3
Alam mo, yung mga ganyang script is already red flag
00:51.6
that this is a scam.
00:52.8
But anyway, I'm talking about MFT group of companies
00:56.6
na napalitan na yung pang-usapan.
00:57.9
Ang pangalan to Foundry Ventures.
01:00.3
Now, maybe some of you that are watching this
01:02.2
ay nabiktima na ng MFT group of companies
01:04.7
or ng Foundry Ventures,
01:06.1
or maybe you've heard of them.
01:07.9
So, let's first talk about the background of MFT group of companies.
01:11.9
MFT actually stands for Mika F. Tan, the founder.
01:15.6
Now, what makes her story fascinating?
01:17.7
She started a company when she was only 23 years old,
01:21.3
making her one of the youngest Filipino entrepreneurs
01:23.5
to be this successful.
01:25.0
And MFT group of companies owns
01:27.9
various businesses, including Salad Stop in Spain,
01:31.3
Mimi and Brothers,
01:32.7
Mondial Medical Technologies,
01:34.6
32nd Street Prime Diner,
01:36.8
Angel Credit Corporation,
01:38.8
Asian Invest Consultants, Inc.,
01:40.8
Mayhow Corporation,
01:43.6
among many others.
01:45.5
Okay, but before anything else,
01:47.1
sino ba talaga si Mika Tan?
01:49.0
Mika Tan is the youngest in her family.
01:51.8
Yung mga siblings niya are all entrepreneurs and professionals.
01:54.4
I actually know her brothers who I went to school with.
01:57.9
At ang kwento ni Mika Tan is,
01:59.6
by the age of 13, she was already trading stocks.
02:02.6
Honestly, I'm not sure if it was profitable or not.
02:05.1
It's hard to believe that somebody can be profitable trading at 13 years old.
02:08.7
But, it's a good story.
02:10.2
And by 15, she was already doing forex trading.
02:13.1
And after graduating from high school,
02:14.9
she actually wanted to go to Fordham University.
02:17.8
Dahil dun din daw nag-aral yung kanyang business idol.
02:20.6
And you know who her business idol is?
02:26.0
So, thank you very much.
02:28.8
I will never forget it.
02:30.0
But eventually, she decided against it.
02:32.0
It was because she was heartbroken.
02:33.4
That's why she decided not to go to Fordham University.
02:36.8
And in 2014, tinayunan niya yung MFT Group of Companies.
02:40.9
And basically, MFT Group of Companies started with just Mika
02:44.0
asking people to invest with her
02:46.4
or lend her money and get a 12% to 18% return.
02:49.9
Now, the money she got from these investors,
02:51.6
she will now invest it in businesses.
02:54.8
And the idea is na sana yung mga negosyo nito,
02:57.9
is going to be profitable enough to be able to pay for the 12% and 18%.
03:01.1
It actually makes sense if the business is profitable.
03:05.7
Ngayon, tingin ko, in the first few businesses na in-invest niya,
03:08.9
she was probably profitable.
03:10.4
She made some good choices.
03:12.1
And then from there, nabayaran niya yung 12% to 18%
03:14.3
ng mga investors niya at nabalik yung pera.
03:16.9
And then because of that, other people trusted her.
03:19.5
And then it started to grow from there.
03:21.7
So, let's actually compute the numbers
03:23.0
para makita niyo why it actually makes sense to do this.
03:25.9
Let's say you open a restaurant franchise,
03:27.8
Now, since they opened a salad stop in Spain,
03:30.7
let's just say that it's a salad stop franchise here in the Philippines.
03:34.0
Now, I'm not sure how much it costs to get a salad stop franchise.
03:37.3
Pero nung tinignan ko yung mga cost of mga franchise
03:39.7
na same size as salad stop tulad ng mga pancake house
03:43.2
o kaya teriyaki boy or yellow cab,
03:46.6
it's ranging from 8 to 10 million pesos.
03:49.4
So, let's just say it's 9 million pesos.
03:51.9
Now, assume natin with the 9 million investment that Mika got,
03:54.7
for example, let's say to open a salad stop branch,
03:58.1
she is able to generate a monthly revenue of a million pesos.
04:02.5
So, that's about 33,000 pesos per day for 30 days.
04:07.8
Ngayon, let's say that yung cost of goods niya,
04:10.2
which is the vegetables, the packaging, everything,
04:15.7
So, may matitira siyang 700,000 pesos.
04:18.8
Dahil yung cost of goods niya, 30% is 300,000 pesos.
04:22.8
Now, from the 700,000 remaining,
04:24.6
ilalese natin yung mga operating expenses.
04:27.2
Okay, let's assume that Mika is able to generate a monthly revenue of 1 million pesos.
04:27.7
So, that's about 33,000 pesos per day for 30 days.
04:27.8
Now, let's assume that Mika is able to generate a monthly revenue of 1 million pesos.
04:27.8
So, let's assume that rent is roughly about 150,000 pesos.
04:31.2
Then, salaries, let's say salaries for 10 people at 25,000 per employee is 250,000.
04:38.7
And then, you'll take out the cost of electricity, water, basically utilities.
04:43.8
So, let's take out another 50,000 from there.
04:46.3
And then, let's also take out 50,000 for mga miscellaneous expenses.
04:50.0
I don't know what they are.
04:52.3
It could be spoilage.
04:55.3
Sabi natin 50,000, tagalin natin.
04:56.8
And then, let's take out another 50,000.
04:57.6
And then, let's take out another 50,000 for taxes per month.
05:00.6
That gives you an operating expense of about 550,000 pesos per month.
05:04.8
Ngayon, yung net profit niya is at 700,000, right?
05:08.0
May natitira siyang 150,000 pesos per month.
05:12.1
Now, at 150,000 pesos per month, that's 1.8 million pesos a year.
05:18.3
Now, remember that the investment was 9 million pesos.
05:21.0
So, let's say that 9 million yung na-raise niyang investment.
05:24.3
Ngayon, may nakuha siyang 1.8 million a year, which is 20 million.
05:27.6
So, 20% of 9 million.
05:29.5
So, babayaran niya doon, let's say, is 12%.
05:32.3
May natira pa sa kanyang 8%, which is 720,000 pesos.
05:37.4
Sounds like a good plan, di ba?
05:38.9
And I think that's probably what happened at the start.
05:41.2
Then, she started to get more investments.
05:42.9
Kasi the DNA of MFT Group of Companies is that they're a private equity firm.
05:47.5
That means they pool money together and then nag-iinvest sila sa mga ibang-ibang klaseng mga negosyo.
05:52.7
Now, when did the problem start?
05:53.9
I think the problem started about 3 years or 4 years.
05:57.6
After they started the company.
05:59.1
In about 2017 or 2018, nag-uumpisa na yung mga complaints from investors
06:03.3
na hindi nila nakukuha yung mga returns na pinangako sa kanila.
06:07.5
May mga bouncing checks with insufficient funds o kaya closed bank accounts.
06:12.7
At nahihirapan sila makipag-coordinate with the MFT Group of Companies.
06:16.2
And it wasn't just one person, not two, not three.
06:19.1
There were quite a few people that are not getting their returns or even their investments at this point.
06:25.2
Ngayon, by this time, Mika Tan was the...
06:27.6
She had so many accolades, invited to so many different events.
06:33.7
Some of her awards include Most Influential Filipino Woman in the World and an Entrepreneur of the Year.
06:39.5
She was featured in different business magazines and different business shows.
06:43.8
She was featured as a mentor on this reality show called Final Pitch.
06:48.8
But while all this was happening, underneath, andami na palang problema.
06:52.4
At may nakita nga akong mga ibang-ibang mga Reddit groups where people were talking about...
06:57.6
...filing a lawsuit against her dahil hindi pa sila nababayaran o nakukuha yung mga investments nila.
07:05.1
At yung mga pangakong returns sa investment nila.
07:07.6
So, paano tayo umabot dito?
07:09.1
I think yung MFT Group of Companies, their biggest mistake was they were getting so many investments.
07:14.4
Tapos, they needed to be able to find businesses to invest in na makakapag-generate ng enough profit para mabayaran na itong mga returns na ito.
07:23.7
So, two problems that they had.
07:25.5
Number one, they had to pick a lot of different...
07:28.3
Number two, the businesses they're gonna pick have to have a 100% hit rate.
07:33.3
Kasi they don't have a lot of room to make any mistakes.
07:37.4
And number three, what if they don't have enough businesses to be able to invest in and they have all this money coming in?
07:44.2
Tapos, idagdag mo pa dyan na nagka-pandemic nung 2022.
07:48.8
A lot of businesses closed down.
07:50.5
A lot of businesses were not making money.
07:52.4
A lot of businesses were losing money.
07:55.4
So, paano nila magagarantee yung...
07:57.6
...12% to 18% annually kung hindi kumikita itong mga negosyo na ito?
08:03.5
Saan nila kinukuha yung pera para pambaya dito sa mga ito?
08:07.0
And I think doon sila nagkaroon ng problema.
08:09.5
And that's why they kept doing all these roadshows to raise funds.
08:13.9
Dahil if you think about it, hindi lahat ng negosyo na papasukan mo ay kikita.
08:18.7
Hindi lahat ng negosyo na papasukan mo can give you a return of over 18% to 20% in a year.
08:24.9
And when you have a pandemic that happened...
08:27.6
...of cash flow, then kailangan mo na mag-magic talaga sa accounting.
08:31.5
And I think dito na nag-umpisa yung paggamit ng pondo ng ibang tao para mabayaran yung mga naunang nag-invest.
08:39.6
And it became one vicious cycle which most of you know is called a Ponzi scheme.
08:46.5
So, did Mika Tan and MFT Group of Companies, now Foundry Ventures, operate a Ponzi scheme?
08:52.3
Let's look at the definition of a Ponzi scheme.
08:55.6
A Ponzi scheme is an investment scam that...
08:57.6
...pays early investors with money taken from later investments to create the illusion of big profits.
09:03.8
A Ponzi scheme promises a high rate of return with little risk to the investor.
09:09.0
It relies on word of mouth as new investors hear about the big returns earned by the early investors.
09:15.6
Inevitably, the scheme collapses when the flow of new money slows down...
09:20.1
...making it impossible to keep up with payments of the alleged profits.
09:23.5
Pag binasa mo ito, tapos nakita mo yung business model ng MFT Group...
09:27.6
...of companies, if it sounds like a Ponzi scheme, looks like a Ponzi scheme, smells like a Ponzi scheme, it's a Ponzi scheme.
09:35.5
And because of this, marami na nag-complain sa SEC about the fraudulent practices of MFT Group of Companies.
09:42.6
At dahil doon, the SEC filed criminal charges against the MFT Group of Companies, Foundry Ventures, and all the directors and management of MFT Group of Companies.
09:55.6
Not only are they being criminally charged...
09:57.6
...nagbigay na rin ng cease and desist order ang SEC from MFT Group of Companies, their directors, and agents to stop offering investment schemes.
10:08.1
And the criminal charges that are being filed against them is for falsification of legal documents and using falsified documents.
10:15.3
At nakita nila sa mga financial statements ng MFT Group of Companies na hindi naka-indicate doon yung mga loans na nakuhan nila apparently from all these investors.
10:26.5
Kasi kung loan yan, dapat nakaka-indicate.
10:27.6
Nakakalagay sa mga liabilities nila.
10:29.5
Or if they're investments, they should be in the equity side.
10:32.5
And it's in neither one of these.
10:35.4
Mga nabaltahan ko from people that have invested with MFT is when they sign a loan agreement, nakalagay lang yung pangalan ng director or broker or agent ng MFT Group of Companies.
10:45.7
So yun palang red flag na yan.
10:47.6
Tapos imagine mo pa yung mga lavish parties that MFT Group of Companies throws.
10:52.4
And for their directors, they get to travel to Balisin.
10:55.9
And for their top agents...
10:57.6
They were going to luxury vacations and enjoying a lavish lifestyle.
11:02.6
Alam mo, pag nakakita ka ng ganyan, all I'm seeing is red flags.
11:06.5
Ngayon, hindi ko alam ang financial details ng MFT group of companies.
11:09.9
Dahil hindi sila transparent sa kanilang financials.
11:12.0
And apparently, even the investors don't know the financials of their company.
11:15.6
And all I can think of is this.
11:17.3
I think Mika Tan started with good intentions.
11:19.7
Pero her lack of experience in actually running a business was what really caused the downfall.
11:25.4
Not just that, I think there was the greed aspect.
11:27.9
Alam mo, when you're starting to get all this money and you're starting to believe in your own hype,
11:31.9
alam mo, you start looking for ways to be able to keep this lifestyle going.
11:35.6
And that's where it becomes very difficult.
11:37.3
And I think that she got caught along with the people that are her partners and directors in this vicious cycle.
11:43.9
And that they were just hoping that they can keep it going.
11:46.3
Pero when the problems started to mount, hindi nila matakasan lahat ng mga investors na nagahabol sa kanila.
11:52.2
And at the end of all of this, I really just hope that the people that invested their money get their money back.
11:57.6
At the very least, kahit na nga wala na silang makuhang return on their investment,
12:01.6
basta mabalik na lang yung pera or kahit sum of the money.
12:03.9
And for Mika Tan and all the board directors,
12:06.5
I hope that you guys learn from this para hindi na nyo tuuulitin in the future.
12:11.4
And the fact is, may kasalanan kayo nagawa.
12:14.2
You got yourself in this mess and you do have to face the consequences of your actions.
12:18.9
And for everyone else that's watching this video,
12:21.1
remember to check your greed.
12:23.0
And if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
12:26.7
Kayo, what do you guys think?
12:27.9
Na-scam na ba kayo?
12:29.0
O tingin ba nyo hindi-scam tong MFT?
12:31.3
I'd love to hear all your stories and comments.
12:33.1
Please write it in the comment section below.
12:35.1
At pag nagustuhan mo tong mga ganitong klaseng video,
12:37.7
please subscribe to my YouTube channel and click on that notification bell
12:40.8
so you're notified of my latest videos.
12:43.1
Thanks so much everyone.
12:44.1
This is Chris Tan.
12:45.0
Pagkita tayo muli on my next video.
