Inside MCGI Care's Religious Ponzi Economy

When people talk about corruption in religious organizations, they often picture direct theft like cash quietly taken from the offering box and the like.

But the real game at MCGI is more subtle, more sophisticated, and far more dangerous propped up by the lack of financial transparency.

The truth is they don’t need to steal the abuloy when the entire financial ecosystem is engineered to funnel wealth upward. Disguised as good works, funded by debt, and sustained by obedience.

This a full-blown religious Ponzi economy, where the members serve as both fuel and fallback.

Kickbacks from Construction and Procurement

MCGI is always building. Always upgrading. Always expanding.

But every project, whether a chapel, studio, or broadcast facility is an opportunity for backdoor deals. When leadership or their family members handpick contractors and vendors, it opens the door to:

•  Inflated project costs

•  Overpriced materials

•  Kickbacks hidden in the margins

The abuloy wasn’t stolen. It’s spent in ways that secretly enrich those at the top. And all they have to do is control where the money goes.

This is a model pioneered by Bro. Eli Soriano himself, who was notorious for funding grand projects through supplier credits, loans, and informal debts from members often ended up without repaying them.

His trail of unpaid checks, court cases over bouncing cheques, and debt evasion tactics is well documented and left a pattern that persists even under new leadership.

Cuts from Captive Market Sales

Inside MCGI, members are encouraged, if not pressured, to buy only from within. From uniforms and supplements to food and merchandise, a captive economy is created around “approved” sellers. Who owns or profits from these businesses?

In many cases, it’s leadership proxies or front companies (Marcid Blue, BMPI). This turns the community into a forced customer base, and every purchase becomes another passive income stream for those at the top. It’s religious loyalty with a price tag and the checkout leads straight back to the pulpit.

Monetized Media, Artificial Engagement

Platforms like Wish FM, UNTV, and MCGI Cares YouTube channels don’t rise organically, they’re carried on the backs of member obedience.

View, like, share, repeat.

The instruction is clear: push the numbers. By treating every post like gospel, the members artificially inflate viewership, comments, and ad revenue turning spiritual support into algorithmic advantage.

And the profits? They go to the people who own the content, not the ones endlessly sharing it in the name of gawang mabuti.

The Bro. Eli Soriano Aggressive Debt Playbook

Here’s where the scheme shifts from exploitative to insidious:

Because this loyalty-based system produces reliable cash flow, the leadership is emboldened to borrow aggressively.

They don’t fund these projects from personal wealth they:

•  Take out loans

•  Leverage supplier credit

•  Use future abuloy and sales projections as collateral

Then they pocket the kickbacks, enjoy the power, and leave the institution to carry the debt.

This strategy mirrors Eli Soriano’s playbook. Borrowing in confidence, spending boldly, and offloading the consequences to the organization.

And now Daniel Razon, desperate to keep the illusion of growth, is doubling down with:

•  Increased collection quotas across local chapters

•  Fundraising masked as concerts and charity

•  Political alliances with party-lists to protect the brand and secure new income streams

  
  

It’s not expansion, it’s survival.

Kuyanomics at ang Walang Katapusang Pangangailangan

This is the Ponzi element. The church appears prosperous, but it’s propped up by loans repaid through continued member sacrifice:

•  More collections

•  More “charity” events

•  More products to buy

•  More content to boost

The system must keep growing to sustain itself. Your faith doesn’t just fund the mission, it services the interest.

If the Bubble Bursts, You’re Holding the Bag

What happens if the cash flow slows?

If members begin to question, or leave?

If donations shrink?

If the political connections falter?

The leaders have already profited.

They’ve cashed in their kickbacks, built their brands, and monetized your obedience.

And the assets you thought belonged to the church?

They’re already secured.

Many of MCGI’s key properties and media ventures are not held by the organization but by its corporate officers.

For instance, Arlene Razon reportedly holds 80% ownership in both BMPI and KDRAC, which control broadcast and real estate arms of the empire. If things go under, the loyal followers lose everything while the top brass walk away holding the titles.

The ones left with the debt, the burnout, and the guilt?

You.

This Is the Religious Ponzi!

A leadership enriched without accountability.

A financial structure built on circular giving.

An ecosystem of borrowed faith and monetized good works.

The abuloy may still be there. But the wealth you see?

It’s faith, flipped into leverage.

It’s loyalty, monetized into revenue.

It’s debt, disguised as progress.

And it’s all held up by people who still believe they’re doing it for God.