Napoles’ daughter appeals dismissal of petition for judicial review

Jeane Napoles. FILE PHOTO

The daughter of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles has pleaded with a tax court to set aside two earlier rulings so she can contest the basis of the tax evasion case against her.

Jeane Catherine Napoles has asked the Court of Tax Appeals Second Division to set aside its dismissal of her petition for a judicial review of the P40.03-million tax assessment against her.

The tax assessment was the basis of the tax evasion case filed against her in the court’s Third Division, and a favorable ruling from the Second Division would help in the tax evasion case.

However, Napoles’ lawyers repeatedly sought or caused delays in the proceedings in the Second Division.

This prompted the court to dismiss her petition for judicial review on Feb. 16, when her lawyer Ian Encarnacion failed to show up in court.

When they appealed the dismissal in March, Napoles’ lawyers also sought a suspension of the proceeding pending the resolution of the tax evasion case in the Third Division.

This riled up the Second Division, which chided Napoles on April 10 for seeking to revive the petition for review only to ask for its suspension and cause more delays.

In her petition for judicial review, Napoles argued that the Bureau of Internal Revenues erred in its tax assessment for the years 2011 and 2012, because, as a foreign student in the United States, she was not allowed to work and earn income.

Napoles said her $1.2-million apartment at the Ritz Carlton in Los Angeles was part of the allowances given by her parents. —VINCE F. NONATO