THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week revoked the registrations of two supposedly religious groups for misrepresentation and fraudulent activities.

Acting on petitions from the Manila Police District's District Intelligence Division, the SEC's Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) found that the two entities — Family of People Loving God Church Inc. and Ang Iglesia ng Makapangyarihang Diyos Inc. — were engaged in unauthorized fundraising and solicitation activities.

Family of People Loving God Church, registered on Nov. 3, 2016, with principal address in Tondo, Manila, claimed that its purpose was to generate public funds for social and charitable purposes without the necessary permits from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The organization also solicited money from its members with promises of assisting them in traveling abroad, particularly to Ansan in Geyonggi province in South Korea.

Meanwhile, Ang Iglesia ng Makapangyarihang Diyos, registered on Feb. 23, 2023, with principal address in Novaliches, Quezon City, claimed it could generate funds for charitable purposes. It also solicited money from its members with promises of assisting them in traveling to the same province in South Korea.

Authorities later found that the addresses given by the two groups were fictitious, which constitutes fraud.

Both groups had also not submitted their mandatory disclosure forms to the SEC, by itself a cause for revocation of their registration.

Both organizations violated Section 6(i)(2) and (3) of Presidential Decree 902-A for "serious misrepresentation as to what the corporation can do or is doing to the great prejudice of or damage to the general public," the regulator said.

The SEC also disqualified the incorporators from serving as trustees or directors for five years due to their involvement in fraudulent activities.