The Philippine Star

Janet, husband deny tax raps

- By EDU PUNAY

lleged porN Earrel scam Erains Janet Lim1apoles and her husEand Jaime have denied evading pa ment of P million in ta es.

The couple suEmitted a joint counter- affidavit last Thursda in the ta evasion case filed against them E the Bureau of Internal Revenue BIR .

The counter-affidavit as suEmitted to the Laguna prosecutor’s office at Fort Sto. omingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, their la er Ian (ncarnacion said at the preliminar hearing at the epartment of Justice OJ esterda .

Encarnacio­n, however, refused to provide reporters a copy of the Napoles couple’s 12-page answer or give any details, citing lac of authority.

The investigat­ing panel chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Edna Valen uela gave the BIR until Dec. 17 to submit a reply to the couple’s affidavit before submitting the complaint for resolution.

The DO panel had hearings on Oct. 21, Nov. 5 and Nov. 1 .

The BIR accused the Napoles couple of willful attempt to evade or defeat tax in 2004 and 2006 and from 2008 until 2012.

“In addition, anet Napoles was charged with deliberate failure to supply correct and accurate informatio­n in her Income Tax Return for taxable years 2004, 2006, 2008, and 200 and with willful failure to file her ITRs for taxable years 2010, 2011 and 2012, the BIR said.

M r. N a p o l e s w a s also charged for not supplying correct and accurate informatio­n in his ITR in 200 and for his failure to file his ITR in 2004, 2006 and 2008, and from 2010 to 2012.

“Informatio­n gathered during investigat­ion disclosed that spouses Napoles during the years 2004 to 2012 were able to purchase and register in their names various real properties, a number of motor vehicles, several insurance policies and club shares. They also invested millions of pesos in various new corporatio­ns, the BIR said.

Among the properties the Napoles couple ac uired were condominiu­m units in Cityland Mega Pla a and the Discovery Center and parcels of land in Pangasinan and idapawan City.

The Napoleses also have insurance policies with Insular Life Assurance Co., Ltd., Philippine American Life General Insurance Co., Inc., and Philippine Axa Life Insurance Corp., and have purchased a ord Lincoln Navigator, Honda Civic and Porsche Cayenne.

The b u re a u said data showed anet’s total ac uisitions amounted to P4.17 million in 2004, P22.2 million in 2006, P4.35 million in 2008, P . 84 million in 200 , P6.33 million in 2010, P5.64 million in 2011 and P6.8 million in 2012.

This, even though anet declared an income of only P1 5,800 in 2004, ero in 2006, P100,744 in 2008 and ero in 200 .

She did not file any ITR from 2010 to 2012.

Her husband, meanwhile, had total ac uisitions worth P1.42 million in 2004, P5.51 million in 2006, P0.78 million in 2008, P .25 million in 200 , P2.1 million in 2010, P1.17 million in 2011 and P3.65 million in 2012.

The bureau said Mr. Napoles did not file any ITR except in 200 , when he declared nothing.

The DO is also conducting an investigat­ion into a P32.06-million tax evasion case against the couple’s daughter eane, who was given until Dec. 17 to file her counteraff­i

‘Never benefited’

Meanwhile, a listed official of a non- government organi ation ( NGO) lin ed with Napoles filed a one-page affidavit maintainin­g her innocence.

Aileen Palama, 32, said her former employer Marina Sula used her name without permission to fill in the needed number of names and officers of the members of the board of trustees as re uired by the Securities and Exchange Commission to register the NGO.

She also insisted that she “never benefited from the NGO.

“I have never participat­ed nor have I ever had nowledge of any of the activities of these NGOs, she said in her affidavit.

Palama’s lawyer, Stephen Cascolan, said they were surprised that she was included in the charge sheet when Sula has cleared her name.

Palama is among the 42 individual­s the ombudsman recommende­d for indictment in connection with the por barrel scam. She is also among the witnesses who claimed that Napoles ordered some of her employees to destroy certain documents.

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