The Bureau of Customs on Wednesday asked the Department of Justice to prosecute the importer and a broker behind the two smuggled Mercedes Benz seized last September at the Manila International Container Port.
In a five-page complaint, the BoC Action Team Against Smugglers sought the indictment of Julius Catalig, owner of Juljerjac Trading, and customs broker Rodrigo de Guzman for violations of Republic Act 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act) for misdeclaring the luxury cars worth about P10 million.
BATAS executive director Yasser Ismail Abbas alleged that the respondents failed to pay a total dutiable value of P4,164,240.28 and an aggregate amount of customs duties, fees and taxes amounting to P3,641,762 or a total of about P7.8 million.
Abbas said that the importer and broker declared the shipment, which arrived from Hong Kong July 29, as “10 packages of auto parts including shock absorbers, bearings, sprockets and spoilers” with customs duties and taxes of just around P267,000.
The Customs official said the respondents may face imprisonment ranging from six to 12 years and a fine ranging from P1.5 million up to P15 million if found guilty of the charges.
BoC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña, for his part, has ordered BATAS to speed up investigations on erring importers and brokers and to file necessary criminal complaint against the culprits.
“The strong evidence of misdeclaration and unlawful importation warrants the filing of criminal cases against the respondents,” Lapeña said.