PIPC HEAD MICHAEL LIEW (second from right) attending an official Performance function in Cebu in the Philippines. Company employees have alerted the police to the disappearance of the Singaporean suspected of absconding with the investors' funds. PIPC is also being probed after complaints from investors.

Employees of Performance Investment Products Corp (PIPC) alerted the police to the disappearance of Mr Michael H.K. Liew, who is suspected of taking between US$140 million (S$212 million) and US$250 million of investors' funds, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which broke the story.

PIPC's general manager was quoted as saying that clients in China, Japan and India have also raised the alarm over their investments following Mr Liew's disappearance.

The company has asked the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to bring in Interpol to find him.

PIPC is part of the Performance Group of companies, whose website lists a Singapore subsidiary, Performance Asset Management, and branches in Japan, South Korea, China and Switzerland. The company, according to reports, is owned by Mr Liew.

The head of the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was quoted as saying that although PIPC was registered with regulators, it was not an authorised foreign-exchange trading firm.

SEC chairman Fe Barin said the commission has been 'quietly investigating' PIPC after complaints from investors.

Mr Liew set up the Philippine company as an online forex trading service in 1998. He has not been publicly associated with any previous alleged financial irregularities.

But a good deed got him mentioned.

Mr Liew was the principal donor to the renovation of part of the obstetrics and gynaecology wing of the Philippine General Hospital in Manila. He led the ribbon-cutting at the inauguration last August and was presented with a plaque for his philanthropy.

The hospital's website said Mr Liew dedicated the project to the memory of members of his family who perished in Phuket, Thailand, in the December 2004 tsunami.

PIPC's offices are located at Citibank Towers in the capital's financial district of Makati, which is a top business address here.

A letter to the NBI from PIPC general manager Cristina Gonzalez-Tuason, parts of which were quoted in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said Mr Liew had 'unlawfully taken the money...to the grave prejudice of investors'.

PIPC itself has not disclosed how much is missing. The paper quoted 'anecdotal reports' for its figures.

Clients were asked to invest a minimum of US$40,000 in a trading scheme betting on gains or losses in pairs of currencies. PIPC traders then dealt in those currencies.

Investors were reportedly guaranteed an average annual return of 12 per cent a year.

The Singapore Embassy in Manila confirmed yesterday that it had received a 'couple of queries from the public and understands the Philippine authorities are investigating them'.

PIPC's Ms Tuason said she was told by the company's Singapore office that the missing funds had been invested in three banks and that one account in Hong Kong had been closed by Mr Liew.

Only US$2 million of investors' funds have been recovered, she said.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that PIPC's investors were told earlier last week that Mr Liew had absconded with their money, and that the bank accounts which held their investments had been emptied.

The allegations against him come a few weeks after the Philippine Central Bank issued a warning to the public against investing in various schemes proliferating in the financial market, including those trading in currencies.

Such schemes, it said, should be treated with 'extreme care and caution'.

amcindoe@yahoo.com