Ex-DOF execs acquitted of tax credit scam

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has acquitted three former officials of the Department of Finance (DOF) of involvement in the multibillion-peso tax credit scam in the 1990s due to insufficient evidence.

In a 103-page decision promulgated on Aug. 30, the court’s Second Division said the Office of the Ombudsman failed to prove the allegations against former executive director Uldarico Andutan Jr., former supervising tax specialist Asuncion Magdaet and tax evaluator Merose Tordesillas.

Andutan, Magdaet and Tordesillas were specifically acquitted of one count each of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and one count each of estafa through falsification of public documents under Article 315 in relation to Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code.

The court had earlier ordered the indefinite suspension of the trial against the primary accused in the cases, former undersecretary Antonio Belicena, after his camp proved he had dementia.

Meanwhile, the cases against Lorna Gamboa of Texasia Inc. were ordered temporarily archived as she remains at large.

Filed by the ombudsman in 2004, the cases stemmed from the grant of a tax credit certificate (TCC) of P2.194 million in favor of Texasia in 1998 under the DOF’s tax incentive program for local manufacturers.

In a Senate investigation in 1998, it was discovered that P5.3 billion worth of TCCs were issued to several companies from 1995 to 1998 despite spurious documents.

Majority of at least 100 cases filed in connection with the scam remain pending at the Sandiganbayan while a dozen have been dismissed.