The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, Feb. 15, filed criminal charges in courts against five corporate officers and an accountant of two corporations allegedly involved in "sell, buy, use of ghost receipts," the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said.

In a statement, BIR Commissioner Romeo D Lumagui Jr., who jointed DOJ prosecutors in filing the cases, said: "The BIR under the Run After Fake Transactions Taskforce will not hesitate to file criminal cases against big corporations/syndicates that sell, buy, or use Ghost Receipts."

The BIR, however, did not identify the corporate officers and accountant of Decarich Supertrade, Inc. and Redington Corporation charged before the Quezon City regional trial court (RTC) and metropolitan trial court (MeTC).

It said those accused were charged with violations of National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), specifically, for tax evasion under Section 254; failure to file tax returns under Section 255;  failure to supply correct and accurate information in the tax returns also under Section 255, and making false report in the audited financial statements under Section 257 for the taxable year 2021.

It also said the cases were filed in court after the preliminary investigation conducted by the DOJ on complaints filed by the BIR.

“Decarich Supertrade, Inc. and Redington Corporation belonged to the first batch of ghost corporations/sellers whom the BIR filed criminal complaints before the DOJ last year,” the BIR said.  

In filing the complaints before the DOJ, the BIR explained that it wanted to send “a strong message against this syndicate using fictitious receipts that it is serious in putting these fraudulent activities into halt since the government is losing an estimated total revenue amounting to P25.5 billion  for taxable years 2019-2021 alone.”

At the same time, the BIR said it has “already filed 23 criminal complaints against Sellers and Buyers of Fictitious Receipts/Transactions under the Run After Fake Transactions (RAFT) Program of the BIR.”