Who’s the real ‘architect’ of Pogos?

October 4, 2024

MANILA – The fall of Yang Jian Xin, alias Tony Yang or Antonio Maestrado Lim, into the hands of authorities on Sept. 19 was a breakthrough in the monthslong congressional investigation into the illegal activities of the Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).

Tony Yang is the elder brother of Michael Yang, a Chinese businessman who served as a presidential economic adviser during the previous administration. Tony and Michael (Yang Hong Ming) are siblings with Hong Jiang.

Tony Yang thus completes the cast of characters of “a web of mostly Chinese-run corporations” that have been established in the country since 2017, said Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales and Deputy Speaker David Suarez during the House quad committee hearing on Friday, Sept. 27 (“House probe: Yang central to web linking Pogos, drugs,” News, 9/29/24).

Tony Yang is wanted in China for financial fraud, but we’re wise enough to keep him here so that he can face a host of charges, including identity theft and violation of immigration laws in the Philippines, and answer questions about his alleged links to Pogos and other illegal activities.

Matrix: corporate layering. In the latest House quad committee hearing on the links between illegal drugs, offshore gaming, and extrajudicial killings, Gonzales and Suarez presented a “matrix” showing direct and indirect corporate linkages and interlocking directorates of 16 companies, with Michael Yang and his business associate, Weixiong Lin (alias Allan or Alan Lim), as “main actors or players.”

It was shown during the hearing that Xionwei Technology Ltd. is owned by Lim and his wife, Rose Nono Lin. The latter served as the treasurer and chief finance officer of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Inc.,