Pharmally sucked anything that smelled like money

[Lee]

Quote

 

IN the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, American journalist Matt Taibbi wrote an article for Rolling Stone magazine. In it, he described what he claimed was the greed-driven role played by a giant investment bank in the crisis. He likened the bank to "a giant vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnels into anything that smelled like money."

In the Philippine context and on a smaller scale, the description of "blood funnels sucking anything that smelled like money" inevitably leads us to Pharmally Pharmaceuticals, an undercapitalized corporation with a spurious general information sheet (GIS) that cornered P11 billion worth of supply contracts at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. More than P40 billion was quietly moved from the Department of Health to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management in 2020 for pandemic-related supply purchases, and the unqualified Pharmally cornered the biggest single-supply contract. This pandemic-era scam — the biggest in official history — is now known as the Pharmally scam.

Pharmally, whose GIS contained false information on its incorporators and was capitalized at a measly P650,000, registered zero sales in 2019. But in a shocking reversal, it posted total sales of P7 billion the following year, courtesy of the supply contract. That jump from zero to P7 billion in just a year was just one of the red flags signaling corporate malfeasance or premeditated plunder.

An inquiry conducted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the Pharmally scam yielded the predictable results of what appeared to be, indeed, an act of premeditated rubout of state funds via a get-rich-quick scheme: short deliveries, expired deliveries, substandard deliveries and pre-cleared deliveries that were beyond the government's inspection mandate. For the first time in the history of government procurement, Pharmally imports from China were cleared through express lanes without the benefit of a routine, pro-forma audit and inspection.

After Rodrigo Duterte left Malacañang, several private and public actors in the scam were indicted, though the committee's recommendation to charge the former president himself was not pursued.

Filipinos' memory has the shelf life of National Food Authority rice, and the Pharmally scam was supposed to be one of those ghastly stories with lost currencies despite the magnitude of the corruption and impunity involved. (Who still remembers the P10-billion Napoles Special Allotment Release Order-for-Cash scam?) The Pharmally scam is a clear exception, and its currency is mainly due to a fresh discovery, courtesy of congressional investigations: that the private actors in the scam, like the rapacious vampire squid in Taibbi's article, jammed their "blood funnels" into other money-making activities. Simply put, part of the proceeds from the Pharmally scam, according to congressional inquiries, had been moved into other ventures, mostly illicit, that sucked in more money.

The biggest discovery so far was the checks covering substantial amounts of money that were moved into the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO)-linked accounts of Guo Hua Ping — aka dismissed mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac — by one Hongjiang Yang, the younger brother of Michael Yang, a former presidential adviser to Mr. Duterte and suspected by blue ribbon panel investigators as the true financier and facilitator of the Pharmally scam. Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the money movement from Hongjiang Yang to Guo had been confirmed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

The dismissed mayor had claimed she grew up on a farm. Maybe she was referring to "pharm," as in the Pharmally family, the senator added.

The Yang family, according to separate inquiries made by senators and House representatives, is behind Brickhartz Technology Inc., a service and technical provider to POGOs in the country, including one in a Bamban-based estate called Baufo Land Development, which Guo co-owned. Investigators are about to uncover solid evidence that the Bamban POGO and the shuttered POGO in Porac, Pampanga, may have been operated by the same shady characters.

The last update on the Pharmally scam disclosed by an online news site said Michael Yang, suspected as the real godfather of Pharmally, and Lin Weixiong, Pharmally's former financial manager, bought properties in Dubai worth P1 billion. The possible money sources from that acquisition are many, including Pharmally and POGOs. The quad committee of the House of Representatives is looking at a new angle: the involvement of the two in the illegal drug trade.

It is a toxic mix: Pharmally proceeds, POGO proceeds and possible jumbo proceeds from the more lucrative illegal drug trade. But anything is possible in our God-forsaken country, where the most sacrosanct public institutions that perform audit, transparency and accountability have been compromised.

The Pharmally scam spread the rewards all over. This is just a side story, but it is still worth retelling. After Pharmally posted P7 billion in sales in 2020, compared to zero in 2019, one Twinkle Dargani, who was listed as Pharmally president, bought a Lamborghini Urus worth P25 million. Mohit Dargani, listed as the firm's corporate secretary, bought a Porsche 911 Turbo S worth P8.5 million. One Linconn Ong, who was listed as director, acquired a P13.5-million Porsche Carrera and a P5.9-million Lexus RC F.

All these from the blood, sweat and toil of our suffering republic, sucked by a bunch of vampire squids.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/11/17/opinion/columns/pharmally-sucked-anything-that-smelled-like-money/2005834

 

 

[JJReyes]

In addition to a health crisis, war is another time period ripe for corrupt practices.  I am sure lots of people on both sides of the Ukraine/Russia conflict are making good money.  One scheme used by senior officers on the Russian side is not to report casualties.  The officers keep and divide among themselves the salaries paid to dead soldiers.  

[hk blues]

28 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

In addition to a health crisis, war is another time period ripe for corrupt practices.  I am sure lots of people on both sides of the Ukraine/Russia conflict are making good money.  One scheme used by senior officers on the Russian side is not to report casualties.  The officers keep and divide among themselves the salaries paid to dead soldiers.  

Russia has reported twice as many casualties as Ukraine has. And, each killed soldier entitles the family to 115,000 USD - I can't see many families giving up that kind of money. 

Sure, there will be instances but I'm nor sure it's as commonplace as some might think. 

ETA - it's actually nearer 160,000 USD!

Edited 10 hours ago by hk blues

[JJReyes]

4 hours ago, hk blues said:

Russia has reported twice as many casualties as Ukraine has. And, each killed soldier entitles the family to 115,000 USD - I can't see many families giving up that kind of money. 

Sure, there will be instances but I'm nor sure it's as commonplace as some might think. 

ETA - it's actually nearer 160,000 USD!

A onetime compensation of USD 115,000 or 160,000 for their families sounds lousy to me.  Maybe it's huge based on their cost of living.  The amount given to wounded Russian soldiers was recently reduced.  It now depends on the severity of the wound.  

[Jack Peterson]

14 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

The amount given to wounded Russian soldiers was recently reduced.  It now depends on the severity of the wound.  

 As with a Lot of Countries Military  compensation/disability Payments, certainly  the UK and I would have thought the US based I believe on the % of disabilities 

[scott h]

1 hour ago, Jack Peterson said:

US based I believe on the % of disabilities

correct, the most common is hearing loss, If I remember right, it is 5% of your base pay, but it is tax free. So if your a retired SM you will get two payments a month, 95% taxed then your disability payment. Naturally, the more severe the disability the higher %. 

It is also one of the most abused benefits out there. I personally know guys who got a % for bad knees, but boy they play racket ball every day 

[earthdome]

While in the US Navy at shore duty before I got out I got 2 broken ribs and a collapsed lung from a softball game. The collapsed lung disqualified from sub duty. They made sure they waved a wand to qualify me medically when I was discharged. Most likely to void any disability claim. I also knew veterans with partial disability payments who did the same physical tasking work I did.