(Eagle News) — The head of the Hong Kong based firm Landing International Development Ltd., — which had earlier entered into a controversial 75-year lease contract for casino gambling with Nayong Pilipino Foundation that was stopped by President Rodrigo Duterte — was reported missing.
Landing International Development said in a filing to the Hong Kong exchange Thursday that chairman Yang Zhihui could not be found, hours after its share price had crashed 35 percent before being suspended in the morning.
The shares of Landing International, a casino operator, plunged almost 20 percent in Hong Kong on Friday as it said its tycoon head had gone missing.
This was the latest setback for the firm after President Duterte ordered the Landing casino project stopped saying a 75-year casino deal will never be allowed.
“You mean to say that a child is born today and 75 years later — he is that old –there will still be gambling in the city?. I will not allow it!” Duterte stressed on August 8.
“I hate gambling. I do not want it. There will be no casino outside of what are existing now. I am not granti anything. Basta gambling ayaw ko,” he added.
The Nayong Pilipino Foundation led by its chairperson Patricia Ocampo entered into a contract with a Hong Kong based investor for a $1.5 billion theme park that will include casinos in a resort to be called Nayon Landing.
The President fired the whole Nayong Pilipino board after he learned of the 75-year lease agreement that would be “grossly disadvantageous” to the state.
Nayon Landing is proposed to be the world’s second largest, if not the largest, indoor theme park.
During the August 7, 2018 inauguration of the ambitious project in Manila, the chair and executive director of Landing International, Dr. Yang Zhihui, was even present.
On that same day, Duterte fired all of the board members of the Nayong Pilipino Foundation after learning of the 75-year lease contract which was supposed to start after his term in 2022.
In Hong Kong on Friday, when trading restarted, Landing’s shares dived another 18 percent to HK$3.08 by the break.
Landing said in the statement it had “noted the fluctuation in the price and trading volume of shares of the company on 23 August 2018 and confirmed that the company has been unable to contact or reach Mr. Yang Zhihui … since 23 August 2018”.
“To the best knowledge of the board, the business operations and financial positions of the group are normal,” Landing said in its statement to the exchange, adding that the “temporary absence” of Yang would not affect its operations.
Yang is the company’s largest shareholder with a 50.5 percent stake. Landing said it was making attempts to contact him.
Earlier this month Philippine President Duterte pulled the rug out from Landing’s new $1.5 billion casino project in Manila, saying the terms of the lease agreement were flawed.
Duterte ordered a review of the lease just as the project was supposed to break ground.
The Integrated Resort was projected to consist of an indoor cultural theme park and waterpark, which will be Asia’s first and largest indoor movie-based theme park.
In a press release of Landing firm, it said the casino resort will also offer approximately 1,500 luxury hotel rooms, a state-of-the-art convention centre with a 4,000-seater pillar-free grand ballroom fit for large-scale events and conference, a shopping mall with a variety of international brands, and a world-class casino operated by an internationally experienced casino management team.
“The Integrated Resort will be one of the country’s newest leisure and entertainment hotspot when it is opened by 2022,” it said.
Dr. Yang said in a statement then: “We are building an iconic integrated resort that will highlight Manila as a modern global city with a rich history, culture and heritage, Nayonlanding will be a family-oriented resort that promises a distinctly different, must see / must experience culture, leisure and entertainment destination, capturing the hearts and minds of domestic and international visitors of all ages. When opened, the Integrated Resort will create up to 10,000 jobs and is expected to attract an additional 2 to 3 million foreign visitors to the country.”
His firm said that “NayonLanding will expand Landing’s footprint into Southeast Asia following its successful opening of Jeju Shinwa World, one of the largest family-oriented integrated resorts in Northeast Asia.”
“It will leverage on the growing brand equity in Jeju Shinhwa World to attract more tourists in the region to visit the Philippines.”
Landing opened integrated casino resort Jeju Shinhwa World in Korea in March this year.
(with an Agence France-Presse report)