During the
House of Representatives' quad committee hearing on September 27, 2024, Senior Deputy Speaker
Aurelio Gonzales Jr. and Deputy Speaker
David Suarez linked Michael Yang and his associate Lin Weixiong (or Allan Lim) to a "web of criminal activities", alleging that he used legitimate businesses in
Davao, such as the DCLA mall, as fronts. Cong. Suarez presented a matrix of Yang and his businesses and associates, as well as their activities covering the
Pharmally scam, illegal POGO hubs,
kidnapping,
extrajudicial killings, agricultural smuggling, and
illegal drug trade.
Pharmally scandal As the
COVID-19 pandemic brought the
Philippine economy to a lockdown, the
government responded with the readjustment of the national budget under the
Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. The act, which was passed by the Congress of the Philippines on March 23, 2020, and signed the following day would allow President
Rodrigo Duterte to "reallocate, realign, and reprogram" a budget of almost ₱275 billion ($5.37 billion) to address the pandemic. Pharmally Pharmaceutical Company was established September 2019 with only a paid-up capital of P625,000. During the Philippine Senate hearing on the
Pharmally scandal heading by Sen.
Richard Gordon in September 2021, Yang was disclosed as the facilitator between Pharmally executives and President Duterte. Yang denied this and explained that he was sought by Pharmally executives, Lin Wei Xiong and Mohit Dargani, and provided assistance to meet President Duterte in
Davao. Dargani was the Corporate Secretary, while Lin was the Financial Manager. As Yang was a no-show during the said senate hearing, the Senate ordered for his arrest. Huang Tzu Yen, the President of Pharmally would later disclose that Yang was the financier and guarantor of their company. Yang denied this allegation.
POGO proliferation Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) business began in 2003, and significantly grew during the administration of President Duterte. POGO mainly operates an online gaming or casino license, targeting overseas players specifically in China. Duterte considered the POGO as a cornerstone of his economic policy, that during the
COVID-19 pandemic he would declare POGOs as "essential services." Yang's and his associate Lin Wei Xiong operated the Xionwei Technology Co. Ltd. in
Bacoor,
Cavite in August 2016, or two months into the Duterte presidency. Xionwei Technologies came into the news as the company took over the controversial pre-POGO operations of Jack Lam's Jimei International Entertainment which was operating out of Fontana Resort in
Clark,
Pampanga. Lam fled the Philippines in December 2019, when his company was found out to be employing 1,316 illegal Chinese workers.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) revoked Jimei's license in Fontana and Fort Ilocandia,
Ilocos Norte. Yang took over Jimei's facilities early 2020. Yang's and his associate Lin Wei Xiong operated the Xionwei Technology Co. Ltd. in
Bacoor,
Cavite. Xionwei and another controversial POGO Lucky South 99 came out in the news in 2022 over kidnappings. The
Philippine Senate investigated the matter, and the PAGCOR's CEO, Alejandro Tenco, committed to suspend the erring POGOs as well as run after illegal POGOs. In the 2024
Philippine Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality hearing on the POGO hub in
Bamban,
Tarlac involving
Alice Guo, the
Court of Appeals froze the bank account of Yu Zhengcan, jointly held with Yang Hongjiang, Michael Yang's brother. Yu is one of the incorporators of the Hong Sheng Gaming Corporation, the POGO renting in the Baofu Compound, which was incorporated by Alice Guo.
Agricultural smuggling During a Senate hearing on agricultural smuggling in October 2022, Senator
Raffy Tulfo, asked
Department of Agriculture officials if they knew of Michael Yang, Andrew Chang, Lea Cruz, and Manuel Tan, as these individuals have been indicated in the dossier of the Intelligence Division of the said department as well as Bureau of Customs. Tulfo claims that Chang, Cruz, and Tan have their own territories, while Yang could smuggle at any port. The smuggled vegetables came from China.
Allegations of drug smuggling during the Philippine drug war In August 2017, a police anti-narcotics intelligence report made by Col. Eduardo Acierto mentioned Michael Yang and his associate Lin Wei Xiong (also known as Allan Lim) as the operator of a number of
methamphetamine laboratories around Mindanao. Methamphetamine is locally known as "
Shabu." The said report was then furnished to
Philippine National Police Chief Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa,
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director Aaron Aquino, Police Deputy Director General
Camilo Cascolan, as well as to Senator
Richard Gordon,
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, and former Special Assistant to the President
Christopher “Bong” Go. Acierto mentioned that he submitted this report to warn President Duterte of his association with Yang. In a twist of events, in October 2018 Duterte cleared Yang, and tagged Acierto as one of the police officials who was involved in the
illegal drug trade, and implicated him in the PhP 11 billion shabu haul concealed in magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port and in
Cavite. Acierto was one of the police officials who was involved in the said raid which was the biggest drug haul in Philippine history. Acierto would go into hiding until 2024, as the Duterte administration would put a P10 million bounty on his head. Acierto would later tag Pres. Duterte, CPNP Dela Rosa, Bong Go, PDEA Director Aquino as protectors of Yang. In November 2021, former Davao police investigator and self-confessed member of the
Duterte Death Squad (DDS), Arturo Lascanas, gave an affidavit to the
International Criminal Court (ICC), and pointed that Chinese businessmen who were close to then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Charlie Tan, Sammy Uy, and Michael Yang, were involved in drugs smuggling in
Mindanao. Tan was previously named by former Senator
Panfilo Lacson of being part of the
"Davao Group" along with presidential son and Congressman
Paolo "Polong" Duterte. The Davao Group, Lacson said, wielded strong influence over the
Bureau of Customs (BOC). Paolo Duterte denied this but admitted that Charlie Tan was a drinking buddy. Lascanas also disclosed in his affidavit that former PNP Chief Dela Rosa, as well as PDEA Director Wilkins Villanueva, were "enablers" of the illegal drug trade. Yang denied this claim. PDEA Chief Villanueva also said during a succeeding Senate hearing that if Yang were involved in illegal drugs, he would have been long dead. Yang's lawyer, Raymond Fortun commented that Lascanas' claims are "without factual basis." The 186-page affidavit submitted by Lascanas to the ICC repeatedly mentioned that Duterte and Yang have operated methamphetamine laboratories around Mindanao. During the investigation, the warehouse was identified to be owned by Empire 999 Realty Corporation, and the land where it was built was purchased from the brother of the former Mayor of Mexico, Pampanga, Teddy Tumang. The Philippine
House of Representatives Quad Comm began reviewing on this drug haul May 2024. On July 6, 2024, the
Securities & Exchange Commission revoked the registration of Empire 999, and the board members disqualified to sit on the board of any corporation for the next five (5) years. Former Senator
Antonio Trillanes IV on July 30, 2024, accused former President Duterte in instigating the
drug war to
monopolize the drug trade in behalf of Yang. The drug war, according to Trillanes, was a ruse to kill off the competition. On August 15, 2024, Jimmy Guban, former Intelligence Officer of the Bureau of Customs testified at the Quad Comm Hearing in
Bacolor, Pampanga, that in 2017 he was approached by Davao City Councilor Nilo "Small" Abellera Jr., to intervene on shipments in behalf of Michael Yang, Davao Representative
Paolo Duterte, and the husband of then Davao Mayor
Sara Duterte,
Mans Carpio. Guban was approached by Abellera a number of times mentioning Yang, Duterte, and Carpio as the owners of various shipments. Guban mentioned that it was his team that intercepted part of the PhP 11-billion drug haul hidden in magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port. He disclosed that prior to the Senate Investigation on the drug haul in September 2018, he was approached by journalist Paul Gutierrez who was working as a staff of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Benny Antiporda. Gutierrez warned him not to even mention the names of Yang, Duterte, and Carpio, and threatened him and his family. Gutierrez, who is currently the Undersecretary and Executive Director of Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), and Antiporda denied the claims of Guban.
Alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings According to Arturo Lascanas' affidavit to the ICC the
state-sponsored killings under the
Davao Death Squad (DDS) was primarily targeting individuals who could potentially reveal Yang's drug trade and how Duterte gave protection. Lascanas would also disclose that the DDS was headed by Police Captains
Royina Garma and Edilberto Leonardo, and its operational funds sourced from the city's peace & order, and intelligence budget. The budget were mainly disbursed by Mayor Duterte's Special Assistant,
Bong Go, who Lascanas also claimed managed his own death squad. Lascanas mentioned that Yang and his associate Sammy Uy provided additional funds for the DDS. Lascanas would also claim that then Mayor Duterte in person gave him instructions to kidnap Philip Lam in front of Michael Yang for the amount of PhP 350,000. Philip Lam was Yang's business rival. Duterte would later name Philip Lam as a
drug lord in
Mindanao during his weekly TV broadcast titled "
Talk to the People." On September 15, 2022, the
Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Force named three POGOs involved in kidnapping incidents during a Senate Hearing by the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs. These POGOs were Xionwei Technologies and LY Ground Admin in
Cavite, and Lucky South 99 in
Pampanga, all of whom were allegedly connected to Michael Yang. ==Personal life==