Ex-DOF execs face graft raps over tax credit scam
More than a dozen former officials of the Department of Finance (DOF) have been charged before the Sandiganbayan for their alleged involvement in the P5.3-billion tax credit scam.
The Office of the Ombudsman recently filed a complaint for violating Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, against former Finance undersecretary Antonio Belicena, onestop shop inter-agency tax credit center deputy executive director Uldarico Andutan Jr. and OSS center textile division reviewer Asuncion Magdaet.
They were accused of giving unwarranted benefit to Mannequin International Corp. (MIC) by issuing the textile firm 45 tax credit certificates (TCCs) amounting to P112.606 million.
Ombudsman Assistant Special Prosecutor Sheri Zales said the MIC was not entitled to receive tax credit from the government as the documents it submitted for tax credit application were fake.
Also named respondents were former employees of the DOF tax credit center: clerks Emelita Tizon and Cherry Gomez; tax specialists Annabelle Diño, Merose Tordesilla, Cherry Gomez, Charmelle Recoter, Purita Napeñas, Gregoria Cuento-Evangelio, Manuel Rigor III, Paul Patricio Senador and Marife Cabadin; senior tax specialists Sylvialina Daguimol and Mark Binsol; planning officer Maria Cristina Moncada; administrative aide Gemma Ortiz-Abara, and planning officer III Rowena Malonzo-Maño.
The tax credit project was spearheaded by the DOF during the administration of former president Fidel Ramos.
Under the project, TCCs were issued to companies involved in manufacturing local products for export as a form of tax refund by the government.
During a Senate investigation in 1998, it was discovered that a total of P5.3 billion worth of TCCs were issued to several companies with spurious documents.
Criminal cases have been filed against Belicena, Andutan and other former DOF officials as well as private individuals in connection with the scam. The cases remain pending before the anti-graft court. –