Charges filed vs Land Bank, BIR execs over tax diversion scam

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed criminal charges against the officials of state-run Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in connection with the tax diversion anomaly in 2002. “This is the biggest tax diversion scam so far. We have very strong documentation," said Secretary Agnes Devanadera of the anomaly that defrauded LBP some P431 million in revenues. The DOJ also cleared LBP former supervisor Acsa Ramirez, the whistle-blower in the scam who was wrongfully accused by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as a participant in the anomaly. President Arroyo apologized to Ramirez a year later after she was cleared by the Office of the Ombudsman. Named in the 60-page charge sheet were BIR officers Zenaida Marciales, Gina Villasoto, Eleanor Litao, Bernadette Ongsoto, David Agpalo, Zenaida Almirez, Pablito Berena and Esther Mendoza. They are facing charges for violation of the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. Also charged were Landbank’s Artemio San Juan, Catalina Villegas, Allan Diaz, and Rival Lazanas, as well as officials of several private companies. Aside from violations of the anti-money laundering law, the suspects are also facing charges of falsification and use of falsified documents punishable with up to 12 years in prison if convicted. Devanadera said she has placed the respondents under the hold-departure list of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to ensure their cooperation in the case. She said the syndicate managed to funnel funds covered by switching checks of large taxpayers. “The modus operandi starts with accounts under fictitious names opened in the bank. Once the checks of large taxpayers intended for tax payments fall into the hands of the group through messengers, the group copies the amounts thereon on dummy checks, which it deposits in the fictitious accounts with the account holder as payee," she said. To avoid detection, Devanadera said the syndicate manufactures fake LBP official receipts for the messenger to bring back to the taxpayer along with the latter tax returns, which has been stamped with fake validation marks to make it appear that the checks were paid to LBP and the tax returns were filed with the BIR. “A scam was indeed perpetrated... the evidence obtained by the (National Bureau of Investigation) during its investigation clearly shows that the P203,791,458 tax payments of the large tax payers intended for the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) were diverted to eight accounts in LBP Binangonan Branch owned by four fictitious persons," she said. Devanadera also disclosed that the syndicate was also able to divert to their personal accounts another P228 million in tax payments. - GMANews.TV