The Bureau of Internal Revenue yesterday filed a P188-million tax evasion case against a firm based in Mindanao for alleged possession of fake cigarettes and tax stamps.
Named respondent in the criminal complaint filed before the Department of Justice was Timber Wood Development Corp. of Barangay Mohon, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Key officials of the company were included in the charge sheet – Ting-Pi Huan, Chiu-Ling Su, and Sharon Remo, president, chief finance officer, and secretary, respectively. Two other respondents were identified as a certain Christian Tong and Nenito Pialan.
The charges followed after BIR and National Bureau of Investigation operatives raided the warehouse of the company and seized large cache of the contraband which also included chewable tobacco products.
The confiscated items were affixed with counterfeit revenue stamps. They were specifically charged with unlawful pursuit of business, possession of products without payment of excise tax, and the use of spurious tax stamps.
The law enforcement officers were accompanied during the raid by representatives of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. which has been complaining of financial losses due to the nationwide and unabated distribution and sale of fake brands of cigarette, including Marlboro. (Jun Ramirez)
