The banking community knew almost everything about investment banker Antonio Ong, from his stint as executive vice president of First Metro Investment Corp. to his ascendancy as president of controversial Westmont Investment Corp., or Wincorp.

He had opted for a ?quieter? life as a mining executive, but estafa cases related to failed investments in Wincorp hounded him. The grapevine said Ong had just come from a Wincorp court hearing before he put a gun inside his mouth and pulled the trigger to end his life early this month.

Why Ong, 62, chose to commit suicide remains the subject of speculation in the banking industry. The grapevine said fraud and estafa charges against him must have worn him down.

Wincorp was incorporated in 1995 but collapsed in 2000 after its funders, mostly Chinese-Filipino investors based in Binondo and Cebu, pulled out of the company following the resignation of then-finance secretary Edgardo Espiritu from President Joseph Estrada?s administration. Many investors tried to collect money from Wincorp borrowers, mostly companies linked to Espiritu and his business associates. Wincorp eventually ran out of cash to pay investors and later faced several estafa and fraud charges.

The grapevine said Ong also had a failed mining venture that contributed to his depression. He reportedly had high hopes that his mining venture would become profitable and thought of an initial public offering to raise funds for the project. The IPO, unfortunately, did not push through last year because of weak market conditions, resulting in financial losses to Ong.

A source said he was not sure which mining company caught Ong?s fancy. He said Ong was an independent director of Oriental Peninsula Resource Group Inc. but this company has had a successful public offering. Ong, at the time of his death, was also board director of Premiere Entertainment Production Inc., Leisure and Resorts World Corp. and AOB Management Corp.

He was a director in Asian Alliance Holdings and Development Corp. and Asian Alliance Investment Corp., chairman of Gemland Property and Development Corp. and Growth Equity and Management Inc. and vice chairman of Fil Hispano Holdings Corp. (now call center operator Paxys Inc.).

Mahathir?s son joins San Miguel

Some will call it a swap deal by any stretch of imagination. Former Trade Minister Roberto Ongpin and Ashmore executive Seumas James Dawes are part of a group that is buying Kirin Holdings Co.?s 19.9-percent stake in San Miguel Corp.

Q-Tech Alliance Holdings Inc., the company formed by Ongpin and Eric Recto, president of Petron and a representative of Ashmore in the Philippines? largest oil refiner, is the corporate buyer of Kirin?s entire stake in San Miguel Corp.

Q-Tech?s impending purchase of the San Miguel stake coincides with the plan of the Ashmore Group to sell its entire stake in Petron to San Miguel under an option-to-purchase agreement.

Ongpin and Recto have formed Q-Tech for P39.6 billion with Mirzan Mahathir, the eldest son of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad; Dawes, a senior fund manager of the UK-based Ashmore group; Bahrain?s QTel Al Sadd Holdings SPC, and lawyer Alexander Poblador.

Q-Tech?s exact corporate identity remains a mystery but the grapevine said Ashmore Group would likely have a significant control in the company as compensation for losing control of Petron. As a San Miguel investor, Q-Tech will also have an indirect ownership of Manila Electric Co.

Mirzan Mahathir, meanwhile, is a director of at least eight companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. His private company, Peringkat Prestasi, holds many of his investments, including a large stake in Lion Corp. His Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd, a listed haulage and logistics company, controls almost half of Malaysia?s road freight market.

The younger Mahathir is dogged with controversies in Malaysia. He has received a rescue package for his shipping empire that includes aid from state-controlled Malaysian International Shipping Corp. and government-owned Petronas. His father defended the package, saying it was a routine commercial transaction. Critics labeled it as favoritism.

Mirzan Mahathir is also director of two companies that won privatization contracts from Kuala Lumpur.

E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or business@manilastandardtoday.com