Court junks tax evasion case vs. Napoles’ daughter

The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has dismissed the P17.5-million tax evasion case against Jeane Catherine Napoles, the youngest daughter of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, due to "insufficiency of evidence."

“Wherefore, premises considered accused's Submission (Demurrer to Evidence) is NOTED, and the attached Demurrer to Evidence is hereby GRANTED. Accordingly, CTA Criminal Case Nos. O-4552 and O-453 are hereby DISMISSED on the ground of insufficiency of evidence,” the 17-page resolution dated December 6 read.

"The prosecution failed to prove that there is any income tax due from accused, creating reasonable doubt as to the guilt of accused. Accordingly, the Court finds that the evidence presented is not sufficient to sustain a conviction of accused since the prosecution failed to discharge the burden to prove all the essential elements of the crimes attributed to accused," it added.

The resolution was penned by Associate Justice Lovell Bautista. Associate Justices Esperanza Fabon-Victorino and Maria Belen Ringpis-Liban concurred with the decision.

In 2014, the Department of Justice charged the younger Napoles with failing to pay more than P17 million in taxes despite her ownership of pieces of property in the US and the Philippines, after a complaint was filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The DOJ, after finding probable cause, filed the complaint with the CTA.

According to the complaint, Jeane violated Sections 254 and 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code for supposedly failing to file her income tax return and pay her income tax for the year 2011, despite her purchase in that year of a condominium unit at Ritz Carlton in Los Angeles, California worth $2 million.

Jeane's camp has argued that the "prosecution failed to establish the circumstances and elements of attempt to evade or defeat tax" due to the following reasons:

• The evidence of the prosecution shows that accused, at the time of purchase of the condominium, is a non-resident Filipino citizen and a taxpayer registered under Executive Order No. 98, hence is not required to pay any tax or file any return.
• The evidence of the prosecution is insufficient to prove the element of willfullness, an essential of the crimes charged; and
• The prosecution failed to determine the value of the property in question, thus placing in question the amount of tax that must be paid by accused, engendering reasonable doubt as to the guilt of accused.

— Anna Felicia Bajo/BM, GMA News