Billionaires do steal, and when they do, they do it big time. It is equally true that behind every great fortune is a crime.
So, a local business publication that prides itself with promoting the curious lives and follies of those born with the silver spoon is now being forced to tackle the less than savory activities of taipans, the billionaires whose wealth is either traced to Beijing or to Taipeh, or the generosity of state-owned financial institutions like the Philippine National Bank (PNB.)
One such company, Megaworld, has found its assets frozen as Datem, a quadruple A contractor, won a writ of preliminary attachment (WPA) from Judge Rochelle Yvette D. Galano of Branch 105, Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QCRTC) covering the property developer’s Uptown Parksuites Towers 1 and 2, Eastwood Global Plaza corporate tower and luxury residences, One Le Grand Tower, 18 Avenue De Triomphe, and Clark Green Frontier,
Datem is seeking to recover P873,324,248.89 from Megaworld based on a mutual agreement signed in September 2022. The WPA prevents Megaworld from selling its assets until it satisfies its obligations to Datem, which is represented by the law firm Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia. Datem was established in 1984 by engineers Levy V. Espiritu and Morris S. Agoncillo, along with architect Arnold P. de Asis. In the court order dated November 9, Judge Galano said that the evidence submitted by Datem demonstrated ‘sufficient grounds to support the claim that defendant (Megaworld) engaged in fraudulent activities in contracting the debt and in fulfilling its obligations.’” Datem had demanded payment for 12 months but apparently, Megaworld did not settle its obligations despite selling units in Uptown Parksuites and 18 Avenue de Triomphe.
This is not the first time that Megaworld, controlled by taipan Andrew Tan, has been accused of fraudulent business practices. Previously, condo buyers complained of the high association dues in Megaworld projects and the failure to provide water, electricity and internet services.
Worse, industry players accuse Megaworld of serious violations of HLURB rules, when a permit for one project is reportedly recycled to cover five other projects, letting loose unmitigated pre-selling of condo units and apartments, residences and even properties in resorts and golfing communities.
Tan also scraped the bottom of the barrel decades ago but managed to bounce back, purportedly due to generous Taiwan investors, and later on expanded his empire to include the purchases of Fundador brandy and a host of other corporations, making him the world’s biggest brandy producer.
In her order, Judge Galano said “through defendant’s false promises that it will pay its outstanding obligations to the plaintiff (Datem), the latter was inveigled to enter into a contract. In the same vein, it has been established that there was willful admission on the part of the defendant to comply with what is ought to be done by it under the contract.” She concluded: “Verily, the alleged fraud committed by the defendant is taken into account. To the Court, such equates to the defendant’s insincerity in paying the amount due to the plaintiff, knowing fully well that it was already in default. These circumstances of fraud committed undoubtedly support the issuance of Writ of Preliminary Attachment in favor of the plaintiff.” ###