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Villar Land has “consistently upheld the highest standards of good corporate governance,” its chairperson Villar said in a statement on Tuesday responding to the criminal complaint for market manipulation, insider trading and misleading disclosure filed last Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“All our businesses and officers understand that corporate good governance is essential for building trust among investors and fostering sustainable growth. In fact, we welcomed and fully cooperated when the SEC began its fact-finding investigation,” he said, as quoted by Philippine news outlet Inquirer.

According to the SEC complaint cited by BloombergVillar Land allegedly misled investors by reporting total assets of PHP1.33 trillion (US$22.6 billion) in its 2024 financial statements before an external audit had been completed. The figure was later revised to PHP35.7 billion after the audit.

The regulator also alleged that Villar’s daughter Camille purchased company shares in late 2017 shortly before a corporate disclosure pushed the stock’s price higher, and that entities, including a firm owned by Villar’s brother, executed trades that generated artificial demand and helped prop up Villar Land shares.

Villar said his firm remains committed to transparency and compliance with rules enforced by the SEC and the Philippine Stock Exchange and will address all accusations through the appropriate channels.

“In all my years as an entrepreneur, from the time I helped my mother sell shrimps and fish in Divisoria to leading one of the most successful businesses in the country, I have never engaged in illegal practices designed to defraud customers and investors, or unduly benefit myself or the companies I own,” Villar said in the statement, as quoted by PhilStar.

“I am confident that justice will prevail and I, my family and our companies will be exonerated of all these baseless charges.”

The issue with Villar Land’s financial statements arose from a dispute with its external auditor regarding the valuation of a parcel of land on the outskirts of Manila. The property was acquired in 2024 from three privately held firms owned by Villar and was revalued to raise its value by 25,000% to more than PHP1.3 trillion. The valuation was eventually reduced to around PHP8.7 billion.

Villar, born in 1949 in Manila’s Tondo neighborhood to a family he describes as poor, began his career running a seafood delivery business before moving to construction and later property development. Beyond real estate, his interests also include energy, media, retail, restaurants and water utility.

He and his wife Cynthia are former Philippine senators. Two of their children, Mark and Camille, are sitting senators and, along with another child, Manuel Paolo, also serve as Villar Land directors. All of them were named as respondents in the SEC complaint.

News of the SEC complaint caused shares of Villar Land and Villar’s other listed companies to plummet earlier this week, erasing about $1.4 billion from the tycoon’s wealth and cutting his net worth to $3.1 billion as of Tuesday, Forbes reported.

Once the Philippines’ wealthiest individual with a fortune estimated at $17.2 billion when the magazine released its 2025 world billionaire rankings last April, Villar has since slipped to third place in the real-time list.