A FORMER military official and his wife slapped with tax evasion charges yesterday posted bail at the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), even as they face a possible hold departure order.
Former Maj. Gen. Jacinto C. Ligot and wife, Erlinda Yambao Ligot, appeared with their lawyer Emiliano Bantog and paid P160,000 to obtain temporary freedom pending the hearing of four counts of tax evasion cases filed against them in two divisions of the tax court.
Each spouse was asked to pay P20,000 for every case. The arraignment before the third division has been set for Nov. 16.
Mr. Bantog said that contrary to reports, his clients were not evading arrest but were out of town on a vacation.
“The couple voluntarily submitted upon learning that the authorities were looking for them,” he said in a radio interview after the Ligots posted bail.
HDO eyed
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Leila M. de Lima said the Ligots have the right to post bail, but as a precautionary move against the couple being a flight risk, state prosecutors will be directed to file a hold departure order (HDO) with the court.
“I instructed the NPS (National Prosecution Service) through [Prosecutor General Claro A.] Arellano to file an HDO (hold departure order) with CTA,” she told reporters in an ambush interview at the Department of Justice (DoJ).
The case was filed at the CTA, she added, so the court should be the HDO-issuing authority.
In an order dated Sept. 28 but was made available to the media only on Friday, the tax court found probable cause to issue warrants of arrest against the Ligots based on tax evasion charges filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) with the DoJ.
The liability covers taxable year 2003 when the couple failed to report a total of P165.4 million in other income in their income tax return for the year. The couple incurred a total deficiency tax of P153.2 million for the year, exclusive of interest and penalty charges.
In July, the DoJ ordered the filing of charges against the former comptroller and his wife for failure to declare and pay their correct income tax from 2001 to 2004. The BIR claims that the Ligots did not declare a total of P459.81 million income in those years.
The Justice department said that Ligot failed to disclose in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth bank deposits and other assets he and his wife acquired during the four-year period, leading to a substantial underdeclaration of their income for the four years.
The former military official is also the subject of a plunder case being revived in the Sandiganbayan. Ligot struck a deal with then Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas N. Gutierrez to downgrade the charges to facilitation of money laundering. The ruling’s implementation was withheld by the anti-graft court, however, as Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has sought to pursue the plunder case.
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By: N. M. Gonzales and A. E. Barrameda
Source: Business World, November 2, 2011
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