3 firms face criminal raps for alleged smuggling of oil, wheat

The Bureau of Customs (BoC) filed on Tuesday criminal charges against three firms allegedly involved in the illegal importation of diesel oil, wheat flour and glassware. Tri-Solid Movers Services, Inc., Aikon Shine Fabric and EFX International Trading Corporation were charged before the Department of Justice for violating the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP) and the Revised Penal Code (RPC). The BoC also filed separate criminal complaints against importer Harbor Center 1 Inc., and its owner William N. Yu, for allegedly submitting falsified mayor's and business permits to the Customs Accreditation Secretariat (CAS), in violation of Section 3612 of the TCCP and Article 172 of the RPC. Also named respondents in the complaints were Mona de Leon, vice president of Harbor Center, and licensed custom broker Noel B. Canuel. In the first smuggling complaint, the BoC charged corporate officers of Tri-Solid for alleged unlawful diversion of 600,000 liters of diesel valued at P12.6 million, in violation of Sections 3601 and 3602 of TCCP and Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code. Also charged were Eduardo Alino and Dennis Lleno, officers of Tri-Solid; Ambrosio Santos, general manager of Prime Shipping Services; and Victor Chiong, officer of M/T BMI Patricia. In the second complaint, Aiko Shine Frabric proprietess Eleanor Tan and Danilo Opiniano, license customs broker, were charged in connection with the fraudulent undervaluation of Aiko Shine's wheat flour shipment which was declared with a weight of 8.70 kilograms per bag, valued at $0.230 per kilogram. It was learned that after examination, the shipment was underdeclared by as much as 65 percent in weight and undervalued by 64 percent. The estimated value of the shipment was pegged at P2.03 million. The third case involved the misdeclaration through the use of spurious Bills of Lading and Commercial Invoices by EFX for its shipment of Single Trip Container (STC) van containing 68 packages of glassware and other items. Upon examination, the shipment actually contained containers of ceramic tiles valued at approximately P1.4 million BoC filed charges against the officers and directors of EFX International Trading Corporation namely Eduardo San Pascual, Wilfredo Aton, Jr, Bernardo Bagay, Gloria Baiton, Betty Balasi, Rizalyn Tranco, Reynerio Astillero; and Gregorio Hernandez, licensed customs broker. - GMANews.TV