DOJ to file smuggling raps vs luxury car dealer, Customs examiners

The Department of Justice has found probable cause to file a smuggling case against officers of a luxury car dealer and the two Bureau of Customs examiners who processed the shipment. In a 31-page resolution, the DOJ recommended the filing of criminal charges against Viking Haulers Inc. president Reynaldo Pazcoguin and vice president Rodelito Biag, and Customs examiners Evelyn Rivera and Aristede Ambrosio for their supposed connivance with Viking Haulers. The DOJ, on the other hand, cleared Viking Haulers corporate secretary Ofelia Pazcoguin, and Customs broker Benjamin Vilac, and Customs employees Enrique Manansala and Nestor Golez from the case. The DOJ was acting on a complaint filed by the Bureau of Customs last August. The DOJ's resolution was a result of a preliminary investigation, which seeks to determine whether there is probable cause to file a case before the appropriate court. Undervaluation of vehicles The DOJ investigation showed that from December 2009 to May 2010 Viking Haulers imported 10 luxury vehicles and paid only P17.4 million in taxes and duties, or P68-million short of the correct amount of taxes and duties. "Based on the computation, Viking should have paid a total of P85.9 in duties and taxes," read a portion of the DOJ resolution prepared by Assistant State Prosecutor Michael Vito Cruz. The alleged undervalued cars include three Lamborghinis, three Porsches, three Mercedes Benzes, and a Masserati Quadroporte. The DOJ said that the fact that the imported vehicles were declared to have "defects on computer box and engine leaks" indicated that the documents Pazcoguin and Biag submitted were "falsified in order to justify the gross under-valuation of the subject luxury vehicles. Viking execs' defense In their counter-affidavits, Pazcoguin and Biag said they had nothing to do with the alleged illegal importation and under-valuation of the vehicles because Customs brokers were involved in the whole importation process on behalf of Viking Haulers. They added that the company pays taxes and duties based on computations by the Bureau of Customs. Still, the DOJ found them liable for the supposed smuggling of the luxury cars. "Respondents Pazcoguin and Biag, as president and vice president of Viking, respectively allegedly consented to the unlawful shipments, authorized the processing and release of the same by not paying the correct duties and taxes," a portion of the resolution read. "Their positions in Viking hold tem primarily liable for all corporate acts and business operations. The fact remains that the documents submitted in facilitating the importations of the subject vehicles came from their sources abroad which only they have access and information," it added. The DOJ likewise said that the evidence produced by Pazcoguin and Biag were not sufficient to prove their innocence. — VS, GMA News