BIR official arrested for accepting P500K cash to lower business tax

An official of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was arrested for allegedly asking for “padulas” money to lower the taxes of his victimized businessmen in Zamboanga City.

In a report by John Consulta on GMA News “24 Oras” on Wednesday, the action of the personnel of the National Bureau of Investigation-Western Mindanao Regional Office (NBI-WEMRO) can be seen after the suspect in the entrapment operation accepted the marked money.

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The suspect was identified as Flora Albao, Revenue Officer 4, assigned to the BIR Zamboanga City. She even tried to call for help, but nothing happened.

Authorities also found a red paper bag with only P500,000 under the BIR officer’s desk.

The NBI said it was the modus operandi of the officer to give a very high tax assessment to her victims to force them to negotiate.

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A victim complained to the NBI after being charged P3 million in tax, but it will be reduced to P2 million in exchange for money.

“Binibigyan sila ng pagkakataon na i-settle ‘yung napakalaking tax deficiency daw, at kung hindi ay ipi-freeze nila ang mga asset nitong mga negosyante natin dito,” said Head Agent Moises Tamayo, Acting Regional Director of NBI-WEMRO.

BIR official arrested for accepting P500K cash to lower business tax

(They are given the opportunity to settle the huge tax deficiency, and if not, they will freeze the assets of our business people here.)

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“Sobrang sakit dahil mismo sa loob ng BIR office doon ginagawa ang mga karumal-dumal na gawain nitong mga ito,” Tamayo added.

(It is very painful because they are doing their abominable activities right inside the BIR office.)

The arrested BIR official is already facing charges of robbery-extortion and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

In November 2020, the NBI Special Action Unit (NBI – SAU) filed the second batch of graft complaints involving 86 personnel of the Bureau of Immigration allegedly involved in the so-called pastillas scheme.

In their 27-page complaint filed before the Ombudsman, the NBI SAU named eight high-ranking officials of Immigration as part of the pastillas group’s core. They also tagged Former Division Chief of Port Operations Division Marc Red Mariñas, Immigration Officer 2, as the multi-billion-peso scam’s mastermind.

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