The Fontana was forced to be shut down following the arrest of the two operators of the clinic, 45-year-old Hu Ling, who owned the facility, and Lee Seung-Hyun, a 38-year-old pharmacist. In communication it had with Inside Asian Gaming, the property asserted that it had “absolutely no involvement or participation in alleged illegal operations,” adding that the villa in question was considered a private residential villa that was under the exclusive control of Shidaikeji Technology Corporation (STC), a company that, according to the Clark Development Group, provides support services to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).
STC sent a letter to Fontana that was designed to explain what was going on in the villa. Included in the correspondence, the company stated, Because of the crisis, we have been forced to use our villa to respond to our employees’ own needs. However, we are not operating a COVID-19 clinic in the villa.” The statement seems to contradict what was uncovered when the villa was raided, as investigators found seven beds, a number of trash cans full of syringes, different medicines and medical supplies.
Despite the presence of the hospital equipment, the two individuals said to be running the operations were released the same day they were arrested and are currently not facing any charges. This is because the medicines found have to be tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which had been involved in the raid, to determine what they are. The FDA hasn’t been able to allocate the necessary resources yet, but is expected to complete its investigation soon.
According to the chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Luzon, Colonel Amante Daro, the FDA is expected to assert that the medicine found at the villa, as well as in an off-site storage facility, were not FDA-approved medicine and are, therefore, illegal. That verification would allow for charges to be brought against the operators of the hospital, as well as anyone else found to have been involved.