THE Villar family and Villar Land Holdings Corp. face a criminal complaint from the Securities and Exchange Commission over accusations of market manipulation, insider trading, and misleading statements that allegedly skewed share prices and deceived investors.
The SEC alleges that these actions distorted share prices and misled investors. Named respondents include chairperson and former senator Manny Villar Jr.; former senator Cynthia Villar; and directors Camille Villar and Mark Villar, who are incumbent senators, along with other directors and independent directors.
The complaint also alleges that Camille Villar engaged in insider trading when she purchased 73,600 shares of the company in December 2017, shortly before the release of a corporate disclosure that led to an increase in the company’s share price.
