DOJ revives P417-M tax evasion raps vs Claire de la Fuente

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has ordered her department to re-file the multi-million peso tax evasion case against Claire de la Fuente (Clarita de Guzman in real life), a singer and head of a bus operators' group. In a resolution issued on November 2, which was only made public on Friday, De Lima ordered the re-filing of 43 counts of tax evasion against De la Fuente, who supposedly owes the Bureau of Internal Revenue some P417.8-million in unpaid taxes. De Lima's predecessor, Alberto Agra, had cleared De la Fuente in May this year. Reached by GMANews.TV for her comments, De la Fuente declined to issue any statement. "No comment," she said in a text message to GMANews.TV. Probable cause In November 2008, DOJ prosecutors found probable cause to charge De la Fuente and her husband, Moises de Guzman. The prosecutors said De la Fuente, as vice president and treasurer of the Philippine Corinthian Liner Corp. (PCLC), failed to pay P417.8 million in taxes from 1997 to 2004. PCLC manages the King of Kings Transport that runs 237 buses in Metro Manila, which mostly serve the Alabang-Baclaran-Monumento route. The prosecutors' resolution said that De la Fuente was liable for violating various provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), including those pertaining to unlawful pursuit of business, failure to fail quarterly corporate income taxes, failure to file final adjustment return, and failure to pay taxes. Overturned On May 10 this year, however, Agra overturned these findings and said De la Fuente was able to prove that she no longer was the treasurer during the years the bus company allegedly committed the offenses. But in the resolution dated Nov. 2, 2010, De Lima reversed Agra's rulings and ordered Prosecutor General Claro Arellano to file a case against De la Fuente. "A re-examination of the records of the case compels us to reconsider our May 10, 2010 resolution and affirm the findings of State Prosecutor Merba Waga," said De Lima. "There is enough evidence to prove that [De la Fuente] was the president and treasurer of PCLC," she added. — RSJ, GMANews.TV