Investors unaware of license denial
The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission has accused agricultural products firm Calata Corp. and several executives of market manipulation regarding its planned casino project on the island of Mactan in Cebu Province.
In August 2016, Calata was revealed to be an investor in the casino project in partnership with Sino-America Gaming Investment Group LLC and Macau Resources Group Ltd. Their plan was to establish a real estate investment trust for the investment, to be called Mactan Leisure City.
But in May of that same year, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. declined to grant a casino license to Mactan Leisure City because it did not meet the minimum land requirement of 50 hectares (123.6 acres), and in fact, fell far short of that minimum at 14 hectares, reported the Philippine Inquirer.
Nevertheless, in August Calata announced that Mactan Leisure City would likely receive regulatory approval by 2017 and be open by 2020. The company’s stock price soared the day of the announcement, up 28.16 percent. The SEC contends that Calata intentionally misled potential investors.
“It is unlawful for any person to make false or misleading statement with respect to any material fact which he knew or had reasonable ground to believe was so false or misleading for the purpose of inducing the purchase or sale of any security listed or traded at the exchange,” said SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Director Jose Aquino. “They made it appear as if there was still that plan” to operate a casino in Mactan.
In a further sanction, Calata was officially delisted from the Philippine Stock Exchange earlier this month for what GGRAsia called “alleged multiple violations of disclosure rules.”
Michael Foxman, director at Macau Resources Group, has been named as a party in the SEC’s complaint, according to ABS-CBN News.
