What Went Before: Jeane Napoles’s tax-evasion cases

In 2013, following reports on the P10-billion pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, photos showing the lavish lifestyle of her youngest daughter Jeane circulated on the Internet, causing a public uproar.

The younger Napoles had posted on social media the photos showing her jewelry, designer shoes and handbags and Porsche cars.

The scam prompted the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to investigate whether the elder Napoles had paid taxes on her reported multimillion-peso properties. The inquiry included corporations under Napoles’ name, the companies of her children and people who were registered owners of the real estate assets linked to her.

In October 2013, the BIR filed in the Department of Justice (DOJ) a tax evasion complaint against Jeane for not declaring income for multimillion-peso properties she had purchased and registered in her name, including a unit in the glitzy Ritz-Carlton in downtown Los Angeles, California.

The BIR sued Jeane for P32.06 million in tax liability, inclusive of interests and surcharges, broken down into: P31.38 million in 2011 and P680,000 in 2012.

Among the properties was the Ritz-Carlton unit acquired in 2011 for P54.73 million and a farm lot in Bayambang, Pangasinan province, where she had a 1/9th share and which was purchased in 2012 for P1.49 million.

In September last year, the DOJ recommended the filing of charges against Jeane for evading payment of P17.9 million in tax due in 2011 and 2012.

In May, Jeane declined to enter a plea during her arraignment in the Court of Tax Appeals.–Inquirer Research

Sources: Inquirer Archives