MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Friday filed before the Department of Justice (DoJ) multimillion-peso tax evasion complaints against retired generals Carlos Garcia and Jacinto Ligot and their wives following the Senate investigation on alleged corruption in the Armed Forces.
“This is an offshoot of the investigation conducted by the Senate and then we followed whatever information was there and we were able to come up with these assessments. Hence the filing of these cases,” Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares told reporters.
Also charged with the same offense was Edgardo Yambao, brother-in-law of Ligot.
The BIR’s move reflected the thinking of President Aquino, who on Wednesday night said in Singapore during his state visit that prosecutors should make sure Garcia ended up in jail even if it was just for tax evasion.
Al Capone solution
“I don’t care if it is because of what he plundered or the taxes he did not pay. I actually used the phrase… use the Al Capone solution. The message has to be clear,” Aquino said in a speech before members of the Filipino community in Singapore who gathered in an auditorium of the RELC International Hotel.
“Al Capone was a murderer, extortionist etc. but he was jailed because he evaded paying his taxes. That’s true. That’s in history,” he added.
Garcia and Ligot were both former military comptrollers whose unexplained wealth prompted a Sandiganbayan trial for plunder and graft.
With already two tax evasion complaints pending at the DoJ, Garcia and his wife, Clarita, faces a third one after a BIR investigation showed that they failed to file income tax returns (ITR) in 2004.
The couple’s total tax deficiency amounted to P235.83 million, P89.06 million for Garcia and P146.76 million for his wife.
They had reportedly earned a combined P273.23 million in 2004, which they allegedly used to buy properties and open bank accounts and acquire financial instruments, some of them in transactions involving their children who were at the time still minors with no source of income.
According to the BIR, Garcia, through his son Ian Carl, purchased a property in Iloilo for P459, 609.
No tax return
That same year, Clarita, using her children, deposited in several banks and bought financial instruments amounts that reached P170.01 million.
The BIR complaint against the Ligots included eight counts of willful attempt to evade or defeat tax and five counts for willful failure to file their ITR from 2001 to 2004.
Ligot did not file his ITR in 2001 while his reportedly jet-setter of a wife, Erlinda, did not file hers from 2001 to 2004.
Their total tax liability amounted to P428.07 million, with Ligot having a tax deficiency of P290.24 million and Erlinda, P137.83 million.
The BIR said the Ligot couple failed to declare the following income: P41.85 million in 2001; P103.60 million in 2002; P165.36 million in 2003; and P148.95 million in 2004.
The bureau’s investigation showed that while still in active military service from 2001 to 2004, Ligot made several substantial deposits and investments, including $1.28 million and $1.58 million deposits with Citibank.
Wealthy housewife
Ligot also bought several properties, including parcels of land in Malaybalay and Rizal provinces, a Paseo Parkview Tower II condominium unit at Salcedo Village in Makati City and a Toyota Hilux cab.
His wife Erlinda, whom the BIR described as a “housewife,” made several sizable deposits and investments, including a $200,000-deposit at Citibank.
According to the BIR, Erlinda purchased as well several properties that included a Paseo Parkview Tower II condominium unit also in Makati City, a $322,180 real-estate property at 1240 Cabernet Circle in Anaheim, California and a $599,500-house and lot at 7102 Stanton Avenue in Buenas Park, California.
Edgardo Yambao, described in the Senate hearings as a possible dummy of his brother-in-law, is facing six counts of willful attempt to evade or defeat tax and six counts for willful failure to file his ITRs in 1999, and 2001 to 2005.
According to the BIR, Yambao’s transactions included the acquisition of a P1.41-million condominium unit in 1999.
In 2001, Yambao deposited P14.4 million in Citibank, Metrobank and the United Overseas Bank and bought a Toyota Highlander worth P2.8 million.
In 2002, he deposited P58.3 million in the same banks and purchased a 2002 Subaru Forester worth P1.2 million.
In 2003, Yambao deposited P153.5 million in the banks and bought a Subaru Forester valued at P1.3 million and a P25-million unit at the Essensa East Forbes Condominium.
In 2004, he deposited P38.7 million and another P9.3 million in 2005.
For the six-year period, Yambao tax deficiency was assessed at P285.77 million.