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The Office of the Ombudsman has reversed its decision clearing a close associate of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s old economic adviser, Chinese businessman Michael Yang, of liability in an alleged conspiracy that allowed Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. to corner multibillion-peso government contracts during the pandemic.
In an 18-page order approved by Ombudsman Samuel Martires on May 2 but made public on Thursday, a special panel of investigators amended an Aug. 14, 2023, resolution to include Lin Weixiong among the respondents for his alleged role in the “highly irregular scheme” with officials of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).
Lin, also a Chinese national, is now facing one count each for violation of Section 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in the 2021 and 2022 procurement of the following RT-PCR test kits: 8,000 BGI real-time fluorescent test kits, 2,000 A*Star Fortitude test kits, and another 41,400 BGI real-time fluorescent test kits.
The earlier resolution had dismissed the case against Lin.
According to the order, Lin, who had business ties with Yang, served as the financial manager of Pharmally despite being a Chinese citizen, in violation of the antidummy law.
Lin is the husband of businesswoman Rose Nono Lin, who also had ties to companies linked to Yang.
Citing the 87-year-old law, the Ombudsman said the payment for the 51,400 units of test kits was issued while Lin was the financial manager “enjoying extraordinary power over the corporate funds in Pharmally’s depository bank.”
The Ombudsman pointed to Pharmally’s records that showed Lin having full access and control over the financial assets and properties of the company.
