Seven individuals, including two Chinese physicians and four foreigners, were accosted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in a raid conducted in an illegally operating clinic in Makati City.

Director Jaime Santiago, who led the NBI team in the raid, said all of the staff found inside the clinic, including two physicians and four foreigners, were invited for further investigation.

On the other hand, the two Chinese nationals identified as alias Zhihe Yu and Jingfang Wu, who were allegedly practicing medicine in the clinic, were able to evade the raiding team.

The NBI said it will file charges against Filipino staff of Mastercare MDC Inc. clinic, namely, Charles Anson Ching, Nasrin Hagnani, Sharmie Fernando, Manrissa Reyes, Blessie Fernando, Cristy Sim, and a Chinese national identified as Xu Keting for violations of Section 4A of R.A. No. 8203 (Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs) and R.A. No. 4226 (Hospital Licensure Act).

As per the directive of Santiago, the custody of four foreign nationals who were found in the clinic, including Subject Xu, will be turned-over to the Bureau of Immigration.

The raid was conducted by National Bureau of Investigation – Laguna District Office (NBI-LAGDO) after they obtained the search warrant for the clinic located in San Isidro, Makati City for violation of R.A. 3720 as amended by R.A. 9711 (Food and Drug Act of 2009).

Santiago said his office had received information that a Chinese national identified as “Dr. Yu” is in connivance with some Filipinos for selling unregistered medicines in a purported hospital clinic.

The NBI said the information they gathered that the hospital clinic caters only to Chinese patients and that unregistered medicines are stored inside the clinic.

Acting on the information, NBI-LAGDO immediately conducted a test-buy operation on 17 June 2024 and was able to confirm the veracity of the information.

Verification with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on one of the items during the test-buy operation showed that the submitted item (ointment) was unregistered.

In the second test-buy, the poseur-patient had a medical checkup at the subject clinic and was prescribed with several medicines with Chinese markings, which were bought from the clinic as the informant paid P3,000 for the check-up and the medicines.

Verification made with government agencies disclosed that the subject clinic is not a licensed health facility as per certification by the Department of Health (DOH) and that it is registered as a corporation with Khorshed Alam, a Bangladesh national, as its President as per the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Meanwhile, the medicines bought during the test-buy operation were submitted to the FDA for verification.

With enough evidences at hand, operatives of NBI-LAGDO applied for a Search Warrant against the subject clinic, which was granted by the Regional Trial Court, Branch 147 in Makati City.