THE Bureau of Internal Revenue on Thursday asked the Department of Justice to prosecute for tax evasion two people implicated in the case of the P6.4 billion worth of shabu smuggled to the Philippines from China in May last year.
BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay identified the two as Mark Ruben Taguba and trader Yi Shen Dong, a.k.a. Kenneth Dong, who “willfully attempted to evade the payment of taxes by not filing their respective annual tax returns and quarterly value- added-tax returns.
Dulay said Taguba evaded paying P850.6 million in taxes in 2016. Taguba also failed to file any income tax return or value-added-tax return for the years 2009 to 2016.
The case against Taguba was an offshoot of the inquiries conducted by the Senate and the House of Representatives into the P6.4-billion shabu from China where Taguba described himself as a businessman engaged in the trucking business and in the financing of various ancillary ventures such as logistics, brokerage, lending, trading and agricultural production.
“Taguba, however, was actually a player or fixer in the Bureau of Customs who facilitated the importation into the Philippines of goods of all kinds for a certain fee,” Dulay said.
Taguba admitted before the Senate and the House that his clients would pay him an all-in sum ranging from P170,000 to P190,000 per container van.
Based on the congressional inquiries and data obtained from Customs, a total of 7,458 and 7,694 container vans were brought in by Taguba’s consignees for 2016 and 2017, respectively.
For 2016 alone, Dulay said, Taguba earned P1.27 billion.
The same year, Dulay said, Taguba bought a Chevrolet Trailblazer worth P1.5 million and a Yamaha Mio worth P69,900 aside from several lots he purchased in Cavite from 2014 to 2016.
Dong, a “middleman” in Taguba’s venture, testified before the legislative hearings that he earned a referral fee of P5,000 to P10,000 per container van.
He also admitted not paying any taxes on the income he earned from his venture with Taguba, and that he contributed millions of pesos to candidates during election campaigns.
Dong also paid P850,000 in 2013 for a 2010 Toyota Fortuner, P4.5 million in 2016 for a 2010 BMW, and P2.4 million in 2016 for a 2013 Ford Expedition, Dulay said, citing documents from the Land Transportation Office.
He said Dong and his wife also acquired a townhouse unit in Parañaque City worth P3.55 million in 2013 as shown in documents obtained from the city’s Registry of Deeds.
