(Done in partnership with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) Michael Yang, the former presidential economic adviser of Rodrigo Duterte, co-owned a multi-million-dollar property in Dubai which was acquired by his business partner Lin Weixiong in 2021. This was just a year after their company, Pharmally Pharmaceutical, won as much as P7.49 billion ($155 million)* in “irregular” pandemic projects in 2020 as the Duterte government’s most favored contractor.
A joint investigation by Rappler and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) found that 46-year-old Lin acquired two Dubai properties in 2021 worth a total of P1.04 billion or $21 million. One of these properties was co-owned by Yang, who admitted to being a guarantor for Pharmally back then.
Senators believe Yang, now 48, was its financier. (READ: TIMELINE: Michael Yang and Lin Weixiong’s Philippine enterprise ) Information we found through a leaked dataset of Dubai property owners give us an idea of how these questionable Chinese businessmen used millions of dollars offshore, immediately after earning proportionate amounts by supplying government critical equipment during the raging pandemic, with some deliveries flagged for being delayed and substandard. In May 2024, the Office of the Ombudsman added Lin in its updated indictment , identifying him as the financial manager of Pharmally and accusing him of using the firm as a “dummy.
” Lin now faces three counts of graft, alo.