Tax evasion rap adds to Guo’s Pogo troubles

Alice Guo. —Inquirer/Marianne Bermudez

MANILA, Philippines — After her dismissal from government office, former Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, now faces a complaint for tax evasion over her alleged failure to pay P500,000 in taxes when she sold her stake in the company that would later be linked to a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) complex raided by authorities in March.

The action taken against Guo by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was on top of the criminal complaint she faces for human trafficking and the standing warrant of arrest issued by the Senate for her failure to attend its hearings on the now-banned industry.

Also named as respondents in the BIR complaint were Jack Uy and Rachelle Carreon of Baofu Land Development Inc., the registered owner of a 7.9-hectare property in Bamban where the sprawling Pogo hub was built, allegedly with the then mayor’s help and protection.

READ: Alice Guo’s camp to appeal Ombudsman’s dismissal order

Uy was identified as the “buyer” of Guo’s shares, while Carreon was included in the complaint as Baofu’s corporate secretary.

BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. on Wednesday personally led the filing of the complaint, which accused Guo of not paying capital gains tax and documentary stamp tax amounting to around P500,000 for Baofu divestment.

“Because it appears that the taxes were not paid, on record, [Guo] should still be the owner [of Baofu] and she should pay the tax,” Lumagui told reporters shortly after the filing at the Department of Justice.

‘Deliberate’ nondisclosure

Guo, Carreon, and Uy were cited for alleged violation of Section 254 (Attempt to evade or defeat tax) and Section 255 (Failure to file capital tax and documentary stamp tax returns) of the National Revenue Code.

Carreon, as corporate secretary, was also accused of violating Section 250, or failing to file certain information returns.

Lumagui took note of Carreon’s “deliberate failure” to report the nonpayment and nonfiling of tax returns to the BIR, saying “she even verified under oath the General Information Sheet reflecting the transfer even if no taxes were paid and no returns were filed.”

What else?

Guo’s lawyer, Stephen David, told reporters that they have not yet received a subpoena but will file a response as soon as they do.

The BIR would file another criminal case for tax evasion against Guo should her dues remain unsettled, Lumagui added.

The bureau, he said, is still auditing other transactions involving Guo as well as Baofu’s business operations.

“[We are] still looking at what else we can pursue from her,” the BIR chief added. “Based on documents, the sale of the shares is low and does not seem to be matched with the properties owned by Baofu Corp. That’s one of the aspects we’re looking at in our audit and investigation.”

Aside from the tax evasion case, Guo is also facing a criminal complaint filed by the police for the nonbailable offense of human trafficking.

This also stemmed from her alleged ties to the Pogo in Bamban, where a raid on March 13 resulted in the rescue of around 500 workers, mostly foreigners. According to the police complaint, Guo was part of a “grand conspiracy to commit labor trafficking.”

On Tuesday, the Office of the Ombudsman, after putting Guo under preventive suspension in June, ordered her dismissal as mayor and her perpetual disqualification from public office.

Defense readies appeal

The antigraft body cited her for grave misconduct because of her “willful attempt to violate the law” as a public official who owned the property that housed the raided Pogo.

Reached for comment, David said Guo’s defense team had yet to receive a copy of the BIR complaint.

With the Ombudsman’s dismissal order, David said they were “preparing the motion for reconsideration as a prerequisite for filing an appeal with the … Court of Appeals.”

“It is unfortunate that the Office of the Ombudsman did not see the merit of the argument of the respondent mayor,” David said in a text message to reporters on Wednesday.

Aside from the criminal and tax evasion complaints, Guo is facing a quo warranto petition filed by Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) before the Manila Regional Trial Court.

Another petition, filed by the OSG at the Tarlac City Regional Trial Court, seeks to cancel the birth certificate of Guo, who had been accused in the SenSenate doesn’t oppose PUV modernizationate inquiry of faking her identity and Chinese origins in order to run for public office in the Philippines.