6 Customs execs charged in car smuggling
Subic Bay Freeport - brand new luxury cars carry a price tag of less than P100,000. But government investigators are not buying it.
The Department of Finance (DoF) on Thursday filed with the Office of the Ombudsman graft charges against six Bureau of Customs (BoC) personnel in connection with the smuggling of 14 luxury vehicles that were appraised at only about P1 million six months ago.
Charged were Josephine Dullas, acting chief of the certificate of payment unit of the BoC-Subic, customs examiners Orlando Ronquillo, Rustico Mallari and Enrico Cruz, and principal appraisers Ebrahim Pangkatan and Rodolfo Casis.
DoF lawyer Romeo Tomas Jr. said five higher officials of the BoC were still being investigated.
The six BoC employees were accused of conspiring with one another to release the luxury vehicles -- estimated to be worth P37 million -- without proper payment of tax obligations.
The filing of charges came a month after the demolition of 18 smuggled cars at the Clark Freeport Zone on orders of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
According to the 18-page complaint, 16 high-end luxury cars were smuggled out of the holding area of the Hidemitsu Trading Corp. in Subic without payment of proper taxes and duties.
Fourteen of the cars were found in several showrooms or private residences outside the SBMA after the Task Force Anti-Smuggling- Special Operations Group conducted surveillance operations.
Two of the cars were not shipped out of the free port and were eventually forfeited in favor of the government.
The complaint also showed that three brand new Audi 8Ls were priced at only $2,100 each (or roughly P96,600 each); a Chevrolet Corvette at $1,600 (P73,600) and three BMW 750Li at $1,600 each (P72,500 each).
But the actual “blue book value” of the cars were placed at $72,090 (P3.2 million); $51,535 (P2.34 million) and $78,100 (P3.53 million), respectively.
These, and seven other luxury cars, including Acuras, Infinity SUVs and Nissan Armadas, were allegedly estimated by the respondents to be worth P1 million, showing an undervaluation of almost P37 million, or 90 percent of their actual value, read the complaint.
The accused also allegedly declared the cars “used” or “second-hand vehicles” contrary to their real condition.
By Jocelyn Uy - Inquirer
The Department of Finance (DoF) on Thursday filed with the Office of the Ombudsman graft charges against six Bureau of Customs (BoC) personnel in connection with the smuggling of 14 luxury vehicles that were appraised at only about P1 million six months ago.
Charged were Josephine Dullas, acting chief of the certificate of payment unit of the BoC-Subic, customs examiners Orlando Ronquillo, Rustico Mallari and Enrico Cruz, and principal appraisers Ebrahim Pangkatan and Rodolfo Casis.
DoF lawyer Romeo Tomas Jr. said five higher officials of the BoC were still being investigated.
The six BoC employees were accused of conspiring with one another to release the luxury vehicles -- estimated to be worth P37 million -- without proper payment of tax obligations.
The filing of charges came a month after the demolition of 18 smuggled cars at the Clark Freeport Zone on orders of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
According to the 18-page complaint, 16 high-end luxury cars were smuggled out of the holding area of the Hidemitsu Trading Corp. in Subic without payment of proper taxes and duties.
Fourteen of the cars were found in several showrooms or private residences outside the SBMA after the Task Force Anti-Smuggling- Special Operations Group conducted surveillance operations.
Two of the cars were not shipped out of the free port and were eventually forfeited in favor of the government.
The complaint also showed that three brand new Audi 8Ls were priced at only $2,100 each (or roughly P96,600 each); a Chevrolet Corvette at $1,600 (P73,600) and three BMW 750Li at $1,600 each (P72,500 each).
But the actual “blue book value” of the cars were placed at $72,090 (P3.2 million); $51,535 (P2.34 million) and $78,100 (P3.53 million), respectively.
These, and seven other luxury cars, including Acuras, Infinity SUVs and Nissan Armadas, were allegedly estimated by the respondents to be worth P1 million, showing an undervaluation of almost P37 million, or 90 percent of their actual value, read the complaint.
The accused also allegedly declared the cars “used” or “second-hand vehicles” contrary to their real condition.
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