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P59-M tax suit filed vs concessionaire in PAGCOR 'coffee scam'


The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Thursday filed a tax evasion complaint against Carlota Cristi Manalo-Tan, the owner of the company that supplied the bulk of the P1-billion coffee purchases of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR). BIR commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares said Manalo-Tan defrauded the government of about P59 million in aggregate tax liabilities. The BIR said Manalo-Tan earned almost P107 million in 2003 and 2004, but she supposedly reported only a total of P41.88 million for those taxable years. As of posting time, GMA News Online is still trying to reach lawyer Lorna Kapunan, Manalo-Tan's legal counsel, for comment. Coffee scam In his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) last month, President Benigno Aquino III bared that PAGCOR spent about P1 billion for coffee alone. A day later, incumbent PAGCOR chair Cristino Naguiat Jr. detailed the supposed anomalous coffee transactions under his predecessor, Efraim Genuino. Naguiat said that the bulk of the P1-billion expenditure was given to Promolabels Specialty Shop, a company owned by Manalo-Tan, wife of Johnny Tan. Tan is Genuino's friend and the second nominee of BIDA party-list. Naguiat said Promolabels was not registered under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She also said Manalo-Tan used her maiden name "Lot Manalo" in signing the contract with PAGCOR to operate Figaro coffee shops in Parañaque, Angeles City, Heritage, Olongapo City, Manila Pavilion, Tagaytay and the former Casino Filipino Silahis. Promolabels received P700 billion of the P1-billion coffee expenditure, Naguiat added. - VVP, GMA News

Tags: pagcor, coffee
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