Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Shady business: Pharmally execs, Michael Yang’s associate wanted in Taiwan for fraud

Executives of Pharmally International Holdings and a business partner of President Rodrigo Duterte’s former economic adviser, Michael Yang, are wanted in Taiwan for stock manipulation and other crimes, Senator Risa Hontiveros revealed Wednesday (August 27).

In an online press briefing, Hontiveros showed screenshots of news articles and the arrest warrant for Pharmally International chairman Huang Wen Lie, otherwise known as Tony Huang, and his son Huang Tzu Yen.

The elder Hang is wanted for securities fraud, stock manipulation, and embezzlement while his son, an incorporator of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. registered in the Philippines, has an arrest warrant for stock manipulation.

Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. is the little-known company which bagged close to P8.7 billion in contracts from the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (DBM-PS) for supplies related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among Pharmally’s incorporators are directors of Philippine Full Win, which is chaired by Yang. The chairman of Full Win Group is Zheng Bingqiang, who’s also wanted for allegedly manipulating stocks of Pharmally International.

Hontiveros said President Rodrigo Duterte was already acquainted with Yang and Zheng as early as 2015, based on an article posted online in 2016.

“Zheng Bingqiang had already met Duterte in 2015, just as he was finalizing his presidential run. It was also in 2015 that now President toured the Full Win offices in Xiamen with Michael Yang in 2015,” she said.

“Considering that Zheng Bingquiang is involved in Pharmally as shown in the warrant of arrest we showed earlier, this means that President Duterte has been interacting with Pharmally since 2015,” Hontiveros added.

The senator expressed disbelief over the Philippine government’s inaction regarding the information that Pharmally executives were facing criminal charges in Taiwan. She said Pharmally was able to transact with the government as recent as June this year.

“Bakit nakikipag-negosyo ang ating administrasyon sa mga wanted, mga pugante? May warrant of arrest at pinaghahahanap sa ibang bansa, pero pagdating dito sa Pilipinas, nakabingwit ng bilyong-halagang kontrata? Parang hindi naman yata tama yan,” Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros to DBM: Stop accepting proposals from Pharmally