NBI: Prosecute 8 more in tax diversion scam

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has recommended the prosecution of eight more people with the Department of Justice in connection with the P431-million tax diversion scam at the Land Bank of the Philippines.

NBI director Reynaldo Wycoco named those to be charged with violating the Anti-Money Laundering Law as Rival Lazanas, Marcelino Saludo, Henry Marquez, Gemma Mariano, Melchor Leus, alias Joven Aquino; Ronilo Yu, Teodorico Rivera and Resty Rivera.

Tax payments made by nine large corporations to the Bureau of Internal Revenue were allegedly diverted by the suspects to four dummy accounts under the names of Joven Aquino, Roberto Lucero, Jose Francisco and Alma Clemente with the Landbank’s Binangonan, Rizal branch, the NBI said.

The deposits in the four accounts have been entirely withdrawn, the NBI said.

The NBI identified the nine companies as Lorenzo Shipping Corp., Nissan Motors Phils., Matsushita Communications Industrial Corporation of the Philippines, GMA Marketing and Productions Inc., Prumerica Life Insurance Co., Dow Chemical Phils., Pilipinas Makro Inc., Honda Phils. and Sumisetsu Phils.

Earlier, the NBI filed similar charges against Rodrigo Bautista, employed as a messenger by Contractual Concepts for Pilipinas Makro Inc., based in Mun—tinlupa City; Loreto Castillo, alias Roberto Lucero; and Jeffrey Torres, who allegedly represented Castillo in transactions with the Landbank’s Binangonan branch.

The NBI’s anti-fraud and computer crimes division found that Bautista and Torres allegedly conspired to divert at least P53 million of Makro’s tax payments to the Roberto Lucero account.

The tax diversion scam was uncovered last July following the arrest of Artemio San Juan Jr., manager of Landbank’s Binangonan branch.

San Juan could not explain how transactions involving over P4 million took place under his watch, without being reported to the Anti-Money Laundering Council, as the law requires.

The NBI previously identified a certain Felix Magpantay Villegas as the real holder of the Joven Aquino account.

Others earlier charged by the NBI for their alleged participation in the tax diversion scam were San Juan and fellow Landbank-Binangonan employees Acsa Ramirez and Ramon Joven.