The Chinese businessman Zhihua Yang, known as “Uncle Jhonny” and who held unofficial meetings with the President of the Republic, José Jeríwas investigated for the alleged commission of the crime of environmental contamination in the form of illegal mining, according to tax documents released last night by Cuarto Poder.
The investigation originated in August 2022, after the police intervention of two dump trucks that were transporting mineral material without REINFO (Comprehensive Mining Formalization Registry) or guides to prove its legality in Hualgayoc, Cajamarca, one of the areas hardest hit by this illicit activity.
The vehicles were registered in the name of the company América SAM SAC, founded by Zhihua Yang himself and with offices in the same building where his well-known chifa operates on San Luis Avenue, in Lima, where President Jerí went on more than one occasion, as he himself revealed.
On that occasion, the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office determined that the mineral came from the area known as Laguna La Pastora, where open pit extractive activity, waste collection and the use of metal screens were confirmed, according to official technical reports.
Despite the seriousness of the events, since the Prosecutor’s Office itself verified the environmental damage, in January 2023 the Public Ministry applied the principle of opportunity in favor of Yang, a legal figure that allowed the investigation to be archived in exchange for the payment of civil compensation. In April of that year, the businessman deposited 2,500 soles to the Ministry of the Environment and 250 soles to the Public Ministry, thus closing the process without establishing criminal liability or records against him.
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Likewise, one of the dump trucks intervened in the illegal mining case, identified with the plate initials BJU, appears today as property of China Railway Tunnel Group 10, a Chinese company that was identified during the Pedro Castillo government for having allegedly been favored with million-dollar public works contracts.
As is known, reports from a congressional investigative commission, of which Jerí was vice president, describe Zhihua Yang as a “logistics facilitator” of the so-called “Chinese construction club,” a group of companies investigated for alleged bribes and abandonment of works.
In recent days it was revealed that Jerí received fellow Chinese businessman Ji Wu Xiaodong at the Government Palace, who is under house arrest and is an alleged member of Los Hostiles de la Amazonía, dedicated to illegally felling trees.
Cuarto Poder also reported that, as a result of the media repercussions, the Superior Court of Justice of Madre de Dios recorded on January 21, 2026 the address where Ji Wu will serve his house arrest and notified the Police.
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