Gov’t loses tax credit cases; prosecutors blamed for ‘inordinate’ delay

Update

THE Sandiganbayan has dismissed eight counts of graft and three counts of estafa through falsification of public documents filed against a former finance official in the P5.3-billion tax credit scam.

This after the anti-graft court granted the motion for quashal of information filed by Uldarico Andutan Jr., a former deputy executive director of the Department of Finance (DOF).

In a resolution promulgated Dec. 18, 2015, the First Division dismissed one graft charge against Andutan due to the inordinate delay on the part of Ombudsman’s prosecutors.

In August 2015, the court dismissed seven counts of graft and three counts of estafa for the same reason.

The court agreed with accused that the Ombudsman violated his right to speedy disposition of the cases when prosecutors took over five years to investigate before they could file the cases at the Sandiganbayan in February 2009.

The prosecution said the investigation was delayed because of the voluminous documents and complex and extraordinary issues.

“These will not do… The right to speedy disposition of cases is enshrined in the Bill of Rights, the purpose of which is to protect the people against arbitrary and discriminatory use of political power,” the court said.

Andutan is a co-accused in the graft and estafa charges of former Finance Undersecretary Antonio Belicena, whose cases were archived as he was incompetent to stand trial due to dementia, a disease associated with old age.

READ: Tax credit cases take too long–dementia hits accused

Andutan and Belicena are among those charged in the 2009 case where at least P73 million tax credits were granted to Filstar Textile Industrial Corp. even though it was not eligible to receive such rebates.

The scam spanned five years (1993 to 1998) when Belicena headed the DOF’s One Stop Shop-Inter Agency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center under the Ramos administration.

They were originally charged with plunder which has since been dismissed.

READ: What Went Before: Timeline of 22-year-old tax credit certificates scam cases 

On top of the pending cases, Belicena and his alleged accomplices are set to face numerous other cases in the anomalous grant of tax credits.

In 2012, the Ombudsman filed cases against Belicena, Andutan among others for granting P82 million tax credits to Integrated Multi Cotton Mills, Inc. despite submission of fake documents. The tax credits were then transferred to other private companies.

READ: 13 Finance execs ordered sacked

In the second batch, they were again accused of conspiring with private companies in granting tax credit certificates (TCCs) to Filipino Way, a paper company which has no physical or legal existence. The P202-million tax credits given to Filipino Way were used to pay off its own tax liabilities, while others were transferred to other companies.

READ: 17 charged in tax credit scam

All in all, Belicena and his alleged accomplices face at least 550 cases over the tax scam. The Sandiganbayan is handling tax credit scam cases in all its five divisions.

The First Division alone is hearing Belicena and Andutan’s 11 counts of estafa and 18 counts of graft.

The Ombudsman this year is set to face a third batch of tax credit scam cases, this time involving the release of P112 million to Mannequin International Corp., a paper company created to submit spurious tax credit claims with the government.

READ: New raps filed vs Finance execs in tax credit scam 

TCCs are government refunds of duties and taxes given to manufacturing companies that produce local goods for export.

Under the scam, the DOF center processed fake commercial documents without verification. The tax credits were then sold or illegally transferred to other business entities by making the companies appear as suppliers of raw materials.