Desierto implicated in P5.3-B tax credit scam

Rep. Oscar Moreno (Lakas, Misamis Oriental) accused Ombudsman Aniano Desierto yesterday of allegedly allowing "plunderers" of government coffers to go scot-free.

In a privilege speech, Moreno said the Ombudsman, "like a thief in the night," is engaged in a conspiracy to absolve the perpetrators of a P5.3-billion tax credit scam.

The Misamis congressman was a member of the House panel that prosecuted ousted President Joseph Estrada in his Senate impeachment trial. He was the principal endorser of the latest impeachment complaint against Desierto that the House justice committee has recommended to be dismissed.

Moreno leveled his accusations against the Ombudsman ahead of the expected plenary vote on the committee report next week.

He told his colleagues that they have another chance "to find out for our people if the Ombudsman is really their protector…. or…. their worst enemy!"

"We are being given another chance to prove to everyone that we do not abet or condone graft and corruption, especially if perpetrated by the Ombudsman…. this should be a more than compelling reason for us to give a second look at the impeachment complaint against Desierto," he said.

The former Estrada prosecutor narrated to his colleagues how the P5.3 billion tax credit scam, which he described as the "mother of all scams," came about and how the Ombudsman spared those principally responsible for it from his investigation and the consolidated case he filed.

He said between 1992 and 1998, 64 companies obtained 1,600 fraudulent tax credit certificates from an inter-agency tax credit center, sold such certificates for cash, in the process depriving the government of P5.3 billion in revenues.

Moreno said among the buyers were Petron and Shell which in turn allegedly settled their obligations with some government agencies with the fraudulent certificates.

He said the Chingkoe group of 12 companies, owned by spouses Faustino and Gloria Chingkoe, accounted for P2.5 billion worth of fake tax certificates.

He recalled that during the Estrada administration, a task force was created to investigate the irregularity, and when President Arroyo took over from Estrada, she ordered concerned agencies to continue the probe.

However, Moreno claimed that Desierto did not include responsible Petron and Shell officials in his investigation and filed a single plunder case against the Chingkoe couple instead of 12 separate cases as he had agreed to do with the task force that looked into the scam.