Tax court defers arraignment of Ligots on tax evasion case

The Court of Tax Appeals on Wednesday reset the arraignment of former military comptroller Jacinto Ligot and his wife Erlinda due to the absence of the assistant state prosecutor in the case. Assistant State Prosecutor Stewart Allan Mariano was absent during Wednesday morning’s hearing on the three counts of tax evasion and a case of failure to file tax return against the Ligot couple. Aside from Mariano’s absence, the CTA also cited the Ligots’ pending motion for reconsideration before the Department of Justice (DOJ) as reason for rescheduling the arraignment. The CTA’s Second Division deferred the Ligots’ arraignment by 60 days at the request of defense lawyer Emiliano Bantog. The DOJ is asking the tax court to compel the Ligots to pay more than P400 million in tax assessments and penalties for undeclared incomes and assets for the years 2001 to 2004. The defendants reiterated their request for resetting of the arraignment before the Third Division and sought a similar 60-day period, but the court gave them only until December 7, 2011, stressing that it will be the final deferment. Bantog likewise submitted a 37-page Omnibus motion in which he questioned the basis of the cases filed by the DOJ. He argued that the forfeiture of the couple’s supposed ill-gotten wealth remains pending with the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division. “In filing the tax evasion cases, the DOJ has already preempted the graft court since the cases before the graft court and before the CTA involve the almost the same bank deposits and real estate assets," Bantog said. Bantog also assured the court that the couple will not leave the country to avoid prosecution, saying they no longer have the means to travel after the Sandiganbayan froze all their assets as part of the forfeiture case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman. - KBK, GMA News