By Jun Ramirez
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed Thursday a P188-million tax evasion case against a firm based in Mindanao for alleged possession of fake cigarettes and tax stamps.
Bureau of Internal Revenue (MANILA BULLETIN)
Named respondent in the criminal complaint filed before the Department of Justice was Timber Wood Development Corporation of Barangay Mohon, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Key officers of the company were also included in the charge sheet. They are Ting-Pi Huan, Chiu-Ling Su, and Sharon Remo, president, chief finance officer, and secretary, respectively. Two other respondents were identified as Christian Tong and Nenito Pialan.
The charges were filed following a raid by BIR and the National Bureau of Investigation operatives on a warehouse of the company and seized large cache of the contraband which also included chewable tobacco products.
The confiscated items were affixed with counterfeit revenue stamps.
They were specifically charged with unlawful pursuit of business, possession of products without payment of excise tax, and the use of spurious tax stamps.
The law enforcement officers were accompanied during the raid by representatives of a leading cigarette brand which has been complaining about the nationwide and unabated distribution and sale of fake brands of cigarettes.