BIR chief, 34 others in Senate hearing

THE SENATE blue ribbon committee has asked Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares to attend the resumption today of its hearing on the laundering of $81 million stolen by hackers from the Bangladesh central bank and transferred into the Philippine banking system and casinos.

Henares is among the 35 resource persons set to attend the fourth hearing called by committee chair Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III.

The Senate invitation to Henares came after she disclosed last week that the BIR was conducting a parallel investigation of the tax compliance of the persons involved in the money-laundering scheme.

In a text message, Sen. Serge Osmeña said Henares would be asked about the “tax implications of the Philrem Service Corp. transactions.”

Osmeña was referring to the foreign exchange remittance company that converted into pesos the $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank.

Philrem president Salud Bautista earlier apologized to the ambassador of Bangladesh to the Philippines, saying her company did not know the funds were stolen. Bautista also offered to return all proceeds her company made from the transaction, which amounted to P10.47 million.

Osmeña said he would also ask Henares about the BIR probe of the tax compliance of certain persons linked to the controversy.