Uniwide investors sue over Coastal Mall fiasco

MANILA, Philippines - Small investors of the foreclosed Uniwide Holdings Inc. (UHI) have filed estafa charges against the head of Manila Bay Development Corp. (MBDC) for wasting their investments in the construction of the Coastal Mall.

The group – led by Brenelie Rualo, who bought shares during Uniwide’s initial public offering (IPO) in 1996 – alleged that MBDC president Jacinto Ng Sr. and former UHI chief financial officer Jimmy Cabangis and controller Corazon Rey conspired to defraud UHI of P2.1 billion. The charges were filed with the Makati City prosecutor’s office last week.

Specifically, Rualo’s group accused Ng, Cabangis and Rey of “squandering” P1.7 billion of UHI funds for the construction of the Coastal Mall and then defrauding UHI of P381 million more by compelling UHI to pay rent for the mall.

The Coastal Mall, which was envisioned in the 1990s to become the country’s biggest shopping mall complex, was built on a 10-hectare portion of MBDC’s 40-hectare Central Business Park II in Parañaque City at a time when Cabangis and Rey were UHI’s respective chief financial officer and controller.

The mall has been closed down and the building converted to a transport terminal for public utility vehicles from Batangas and Cavite.

In her derivative suit for estafa/other deceits, Rualo said she was filing the case against the three executives on behalf of over 15,000 investors “similarly situated” who bought P4 billion worth of stocks when UHI made its IPO in 1996. She is represented by lawyer Thomas Caspe.

Rualo said UHI’s continued payment of rentals “on an anomalous and highly irregular contract” was “not a business decision but a conspiracy by Ng, Cabangis and Rey to bleed dry and cannibalize the corporation of financial resources.”