SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — Major shareholders of Subic Bay Marine Exploratorium Inc. (SBMEI) have condemned what they described as an illegal stockholders’ meeting held at Veranda by Cocolime in the Mansion Garden Hotel on 13 February 2026.

Major shareholder HS Equities Ltd., through its company representative, denounced the SBMEI stockholders’ meeting led by American national Timothy Desmond, whom the group described as a convicted felon. She added that the meeting “was like a scene reminiscent of a theatrical farce.”

The representative alleged that Desmond, who is reportedly facing deportation, orchestrated the meeting, complete with name placards for deceased individuals. Desmond was previously arrested for falsification of documents.

Desmond, who holds 1.08 percent of SBMEI shares, presided over what the group described as a “fake” Annual Stockholders’ Meeting (ASM) to elect a new Board of Directors. The meeting allegedly sought to seize control of the multi-billion-peso firm, which operates Ocean Adventure Marine Park and Camayan Beach Resort in the Freeport.

HS Equities representatives said that upon arriving at the venue to protest the meeting, they found a long conference table arranged with name placards for all 25 SBMEI shareholders, but with no one seated.

They said the list included deceased individuals such as former SBMEI chief executive officer and original shareholder John Corcoran, original shareholder of the precursor company SMA Michael Renfrew, and SBMEI co-founder Scott Sharpe.

“Desmond, who personally knew those men and was aware of their deaths, deliberately placed their names on the table to create the false appearance of attendance and quorum. The only people in the room were his two sons, former SBMEI employees, and Desmond’s assistant counsel,” the shareholder said.

Before the meeting, Desmond allegedly sold one share each to Eva Ragadio and Alayson Macapagal, both former SBMEI employees, and to Roiben Baun, an assistant to Desmond’s counsel.

The group claimed that these share transfers were never recorded in SBMEI’s stock and transfer book and were not reflected in the General Information Sheet filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Under Philippine law, individuals not recorded in the stock and transfer book are not considered registered shareholders and therefore have no voting rights, nor are they qualified to be elected as directors.

The proxies presented by JV China Inc. were also alleged to be falsified, as reportedly confirmed by Eric Mantondon, a director of the company.

The two representatives of HS Equities likewise objected to the holding of the stockholders’ meeting due to the alleged absence of proper notice to all shareholders.

Despite the objections, Desmond allegedly proceeded with the meeting and handed a script to Baun, Ragadio and Macapagal, who voted for themselves and also cast votes for Terry Nicholson and Gail Laule as new board members of SBMEI.

Both Nicholson and Laule were not present during the meeting.

The representative added that aside from her and the proxy of HS Equities, no other legitimate shareholders attended the meeting to oppose it.