Phantom Physio Clinic Bilked Filipino Investors of Thousands

Abby Pascual was recovering from a car accident that left her with severe neck, back and leg injuries. Her mother had just died of cancer.
So when Rowena Villaneuva, a fellow Filipina involved with a physiotherapy clinic, suggested she invest $90,000 from her accident claim and her mother’s life insurance in what she said was a brand new clinic, Pascual followed her advice.
It was the last she would see of the money. Soon after, it would be the last she would see of Villanueva.

The upstart Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Group, where Villanueva and her husband Quintin “Keith” Robles were partners was offering incredible interest rates of 7 to 10 per cent — per month. This at a time when banks were offering a paltry 2 to 3 per cent a year.

There was just one problem. The clinic only existed on paper.

“She got me at a time when I was very vulnerable,” Pascual, 28, said in a recent interview where a dozen angry investors met to plan their next move. “I don’t know how she can live with herself knowing the devastation she has caused to so many of us.”

Another investor, Robert Candelaria, said he was “hooked” into investing $10,000 by a promise that interest payments alone would be sufficient to help his family back in the Philippines.

Continue reading at The Star

Posted in: Americas