BIR official arrested for failure to show up in court

CEBU, Philippines – An official of the Bureau of Internal Revenue who is facing charges for falsification of public documents was arrested yesterday inside the Palace of Justice due to a bench warrant issued against him for failure to appear during his scheduled arraignment in February.

Nieto Racho, chief of the Special Investigation Division of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, went to the court yesterday for his arraignment but ended up being arrested on upon the order of Regional Trial Court Judge Macaundas Hadji Rasul.

Rasul issued a bench warrant against Racho after he failed to show up in his arraignment last February.

A bench warrant is a type of arrest warrant which the court issued when someone fails to comply with an order or requirement. Racho immediately filed a reconsideration of the order which was subsequently granted.

Racho however was made to pay another P24,000 bail for his temporary liberty because his previous bond was already forfeited in favor of the government. The arraignment also proceeded yesterday with Racho entering a plea of not guilty.

Racho failed to appear before the court during the February 14 scheduled arraignment prompting Rasul to order his arrest. The accused, through his counsel Charise Cabatingan, claimed they were not notified of the February schedule.

Racho was charged for falsification of public document because of his untruthful declarations in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth. The accused only stated P15,000 cash in bank.

However, the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas found out during its investigation that Racho actually has a total of P5,793,801.39 bank deposits distributed in various banks.

In Metropolitan Bank and trust Company-Cebu, Tabunok Branch Racho has P2,932,896.27; He also has Philippine Commercial International Bank-Magallanes Branch deposit amounting to P1,228,702.53; and Bank of the Philippine Islands Cebu- General Maxilom Avenue Branch amounting to P1,632,282.59. (THE FREEMAN)