BIR exec in lifestyle check suspended

An internal revenue official who flunked the government’s lifestyle check was suspended by the Ombudsman yesterday after probers found him liable for dishonesty and falsification of public documents.

Spokesman for the Ombudsman Ernesto Nocos said there was strong evidence to pin down Antonio Montemayor, Pampanga regional director of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), based on charges that he accumulated ill-gotten wealth while in service.

Investigators disclosed Montemayor concealed a total of P5.6 million in various assets, including properties and business investments with his wife Ruby, son Alberto and daughter Rowena.

Montemayor also failed to satisfactorily explain the P2.7-million increase in his declared net worth, which rose to P4.1 million in 2002 from P1.4 million in 1993, or a span of nine years.

Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo said the evidence against the government official "sufficiently warrants" the administrative sanction while the administrative case remains pending.

Marcelo directed BIR Commissioner Guillermo Parayno to implement the suspension order the soonest. Montemayor’s case stemmed from the exposé by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism in 2003, noting the erroneous entries in his statement of assets and liabilities.

Ombudsman probers revealed Montemayor tried to justify his wealth by making it appear he secured loans for his investments. However, they concluded these assets were still illegally acquired due to lack of documents.

"No records, however, were available to back up the loans made. Because of this, investigators concluded that the alleged loans came from illegal sources," said Nocos.

Among the questionable properties named were Montemayor’s P2-million worth four-story building in Caloocan City named RDM (his wife’s initials), a 1,454-square meter residential lot in Quezon City, his acquisition of Zafra Motors worth P1.2 million, business investments worth P2.45 million and his Eastmont Realty Corp. where his incorporators were members of his family.