Ongpin refutes insider trading in Philex stocks

MANILA, Philippines – Businessman Roberto Ongpin is refuting the P174 million fine imposed against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged insider trading in connection with his purchase of additional shares of Philex Mining Corp. prior to the buy-in of the MVP Group.

“This particular case has now been shifted by the SEC to an insider trading case but in no way can this case be called insider trading. The jurisprudence is clear on that,” said Ongpin’s lawyer Anthony Orbe.

This pertains to the same case that was originally filed at the Sandiganbayan by the Ombudsman as a behest loan case, Orbe said.

The Sandiganbayan, however, had already quashed the case for lack of evidence, he said.

“The Ombudsman tried to allege that the behest loan to Ongpin had caused damage to the Development Bank of the Philippines when in fact and in truth, DBP benefited to the extent of P1.4 billion in this case,” Orbe said.

Ongpin’s lawyer pointed out the case was filed almost a year after the two-year deadline stipulated in the Securities Regulations Code.

 The SEC en banc on Thursday directed Ongpin to pay a fine of P174 million for the purchase of Philex shares in 174 transactions on Dec. 2, 2009 while in possession of non-public material information.

The amount was 10 times the P17.4 million penalty earlier imposed by the SEC.

Ongpin, who is currently the  chairman of listed companies Philweb Corp. and Atok Big Wedge Inc., has also been disqualified from sitting on the board of any listed company.

According to the SEC, Ongpin benefited from insider information as a director and shareholder of Philex when he acquired additional shares in the mining firm before the company sold to the First Pacific group in 2009.