By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated January 23, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The rift between
London-based Ashmore Group and the group of former Trade Minister Roberto V.
Ongpin has turned more bitter as the management of upscale property developer
Alphaland lodged a criminal complaint against officers of its erstwhile
partner.
In a disclosure to the Philippine
Stock Exchange, Alphaland said its management filed a criminal complaint with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accusing two executives of the
British fund manager of violating the Securities Regulation Code.
“This criminal complaint is a natural
consequence of our disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange and the SEC as
well as the Financial Conduct Authority of London regarding the
misrepresentation,” Alphaland said.
Early this week, the property firm
said Ashmore Group misrepresented the sale of P942 million worth of shares of
Alphaland to comply with the minimum public ownership requirement.
“Recently, Ashmore Group’s senior
management found out that the said sale of 2.5 percent of Alphaland was
simulated as then and now, Ashmore Group continues to own the block,” Alphaland
said.
In its criminal compliant, the upscale
property developer said Ashmore Group executive Thomas Donnelly revealed in a
letter to San Miguel Corp. that the 2.5-percent stake is still controlled by
the British fund manager.
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Another Ashmore Group executive,
Alexandra Autrey, was included in the criminal complaint for signing on Jan. 2,
2013 a disclosure declaring that Alphaland Holdings (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. sold
49.6 million Alphaland shares to Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd.
“If found guilty by a Philippine
court, the Ashmore Group officers may be sentenced to a prison term ranging
from seven to 21 years,” Alphaland said.
The Ongpin Group earlier secured
majority ownership in Alphaland Corp. after a P1.5-billion capital call that
was ignored by its London-based partner and a P1.39-billion property swap.
In exchange for a 68-hectare lot in
Itogon, Benguet, Alphaland issued new shares. It will be the site of the
Alphaland Baguio Mountain Log Homes project.
“After the property swap and the
capital call were implemented on Jan. 20, there is no longer any uncertainty on
the controlling shareholder of Alphaland,” the company said.
“With the certainty in the majority
ownership of the company, Alphaland management is confident that it will now be
able to line up the cash required to complete Alphaland’s existing projects as
well as to fund its future projects,” it added.
The property firm said it suffered
from funding difficulties on news of Ashmore Group’s decision to divest from
Alphaland.
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