Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd is set to dig deeper into reports of a “double-your-money” investment scam that has victimized investors in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province and other parts of Mindanao.

“The complaints continue to reach our office. Several local officials in Zamboanga del Sur have also called expressing their concern over the so-called scam. I decided to fly to Pagadian so we can get a clearer picture of the problem,” Roxas said.

Initial reports said that a trading firm, identified as Aman Futures Group Phils. Inc. has allegedly lured investors into placing their money in a spurious investment scheme.

Those who placed their money, mostly low-income earners, were promised a return of the entire sum of their investment in the form of post-dated checks plus investment profit ranging from 30 to as high as 40 percent in less than a month.

Aman representatives claimed that the profit from the investments would come from a Malaysian brokerage firm, Okachi, which is supposedly engaged in futures trading of commodities such as oil, manganese, palm oil and nickel.

Reports added that most of the victims are pedicab drivers, vendors and even police personnel.

About 80 percent of the investors reside in Pagadian City, while the rest are from Marawi, Iligan and Ozamis cities.

“This investment scheme bears red flags all over it. It’s important that we do not only get to the bottom of this; we also need to ensure the prosecution of persons responsible and give justice to their victims,” Roxas said.

Roxas said that the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), with the volume and amount of transactions handled by Aman, could probe into the company’s flow of money, including members of its board and executives.

He said that the AMLC could easily determine if the monies in accounts of Aman and the people behind it come from legitimate investment activities or some unlawful activities.

On October 8, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a cease and desist order against Aman Futures, which was directed to immediately stop offering unregistered securities, soliciting investments or pooling funds.

A certain Manuel Amalilio, a Malaysian-Filipino, reportedly is the chairman of Aman Futures.

Media reports, citing SEC records, said that one Isagani Laluna sits as the company’s corporate secretary and a certain Lurix Lopez is a member of the board of directors.