Garcia answers tax evasion raps at DOJ

Former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos F. Garcia on Thursday submitted to the Department of Justice his counter-affidavit answering the complaint filed against him for his alleged evasion of tax duties in 2004. Assistant State Prosecutor Zelica Longcob heads the panel that is conducting a preliminary investigation on the complaint the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed against Garcia and his wife, Clarita, on March 10, 2011. The BIR said that in 2004, the Garcia couple "willfully attempted to evade or defeat" the payment of taxes and "willfully failed to file their income tax return" for earnings amounting P273 million. They supposedly used the money "to buy properties and make deposits in several bank accounts and financial instruments." The bureau noted Garcia's P102-million deposit despite having no visible means of income. The bureau's investigation also showed that in 2004, the couple's son, Ian Carl, was able to purchase a property in Iloilo province for P459 million. The BIR then computed the Garcias' aggregate tax liabilities pegged at P235 million, inclusive of increments. The complaint filed on March 10 is separate from the two pending tax evasion complaints the Garcia couple is already facing at the DOJ for alleged tax evasion in 2002 and 2003. The DOJ has already found probable cause to indict the couple. Garcia is also facing a P303-million plunder complaint at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan. He had entered into a plea bargaining agreement with his prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman. The plea bargain deal has not yet been approved by the Sandiganbayan, but Garcia was already allowed to plead guilty to two lesser offenses and post a P60,000 bail that afforded him temporary freedom. — LBG/RSJ, GMA News