Evidence vs. Renato Corona valid, authentic —bank exec

An official of the Philippine National Bank on Monday testified that the bank records presented by the prosecution against former Chief Justice Renato Corona in connection with his tax evasion case were authentic and legally obtained.

At the continuation of the trial of Corona’s tax evasion cases before the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Second Division, the prosecution’s witness, PNB Senior Vice President Antonio Santos, confirmed that they furnished the Bureau of Internal Revenue National Investigation Division (NID) with copies of Corona’s peso and dollar accounts records with the PNB in May 2012.

Santos said they furnished the BIR with copies of Corona’s bank records by virtue of a waiver issued by former Chief Justice himself.

It can be remembered that Corona waived his right to the Bank Secrecy Law while he was facing an impeachment trial over his alleged misdeclaration of assets.

Corona’s impeachment trial at the Senate started in January 2012. In a vote of 20-3, the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, convicted him in May 2012.

It had been reported that Corona emptied several of his bank accounts before the impeachment case was filed against him at the House of Representatives in December 2011 in connection with the alleged misdeclarations in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) for 2001 to 2011.

Santos said that with Corona’s issuance of the waiver, the bank was given authority to furnish requesting parties, such as the BIR-NID, with copies of the latter’s bank records.

In the previous hearing, Corona’s camp claimed that the bank documents were illegally obtained by the BIR pointing out that it was only on May 30, 2012 that the bureau obtained a copy of the waiver and yet it had requested several banks for access on Corona’s bank records as early as the first week of May.

The defense also questioned the integrity of the investigation done by the BIR pointing out that it was only on August 16, 2012 that the bureau requested records from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) about Corona’s vehicles and yet the BIR was able to finish its investigation within two weeks and file the complaint before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on August 30, 2012.

The DOJ elevated the case before the CTA in March 2014.

The case involves six counts of violation of Section 254 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) for Corona’s alleged failure to pay his income tax for years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010 and another six counts of violation of Section 255 of NIRC for his alleged failure to file or to supply correct information in his income tax returns (ITRs) also for the same years.

Based on the BIR’s complaint, Corona owes the state around P120.5 million, inclusive of interests and surcharges, for his failure to pay his right taxes for years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Meanwhile, during Monday’s proceedings, the Second Division directed the prosecution to furnish the defense’s camp with copies of the sworn affidavits of their other witnesses on March 23 in preparation for the next hearing on March 30. —ALG, GMA News