THE National Bureau of Investigation’s Mandaue District Office has received additional complaints a week after it raided an alleged networking company in Lapu-Lapu City that was in fact operating a scam.NBI 7 Director Rennan Oliva revealed Tuesday that more than 10 persons went to NBI 7’s Mandaue office to file complaints against JStore Innovation Worldwide a week after they raided the store last Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in Barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City.The raid was conducted at the JStore office in MTC Shang Building on ML Quezon Highway, said to be the main branch of the company that has 114 branches nationwide.The additional complainants came from different places in Metro Cebu like the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.The raid was based on the complaints from clients that the company had defrauded them of their investments under the pretext of a multi-level marketing scheme.According to the complainants, they invested P10,000 in the company in exchange for selling its products such as coffee, liniments, balms, juice mix drinks, health supplements, soaps and cosmetics.But what lured them to invest was the promise that their money would double within 100 days regardless of whether the goods worth the value of their investment were sold or not.One of the initial complainants, who declined to be named, said the company forced them to re-invest another P10,000 after reaching the minimum investment amount, but the promised bonus from their investment was never given to them.Vicente Felizmenio Jr., director of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said JStore Innovation was not authorized to solicit investments from the public, and its president had no license or registration to act as a capital market professional such as broker, dealer or investment solicitor.This led Presiding Judge Ruelo Saladaga of Lapu-Lapu City Regional Trial Court Branch 69 to issue a search warrant against the company on May 25.The complainants alleged that JStore did not make good on its promise to give their investments back with the high returns.Oliva advised the public to be wary of promises of high returns and to first check if the operations of companies offering them are legal. “The basic of that is to go to the proper government agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and seek their advice,” he said. (BBT, TPT)