'Fixer' Mark Taguba, trader Kenneth Dong slapped with tax evasion raps

MANILA- The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has filed tax evasion charges against 2 individuals earlier indicted for the importation of P6.4-billion worth of illegal drugs from China.

Fixer Mark Ruben Taguba II and businessman Yi Shen Dong, also known as Kenneth Dong, were charged with separate tax evasion cases amounting to P850.57 million and P11.406 million respectively.

While Taguba claimed to be a “businessman engaged in the trucking business and in the financing of various ancillary ventures,” BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay simply called him a "player" or "fixer" within the Bureau of Customs (BOC) who brokered the importation of all kinds of goods into the Philippines for a fee.

For 2016 alone, Dulay said Taguba earned P1.27 billion.

In the same year, Taguba's consignees brought in a total of 7,458 container vans. He then reportedly acquired an SUV worth P1.57 million and a scooter worth P69,900, the BIR complaint read.

He was also reported to have purchased 18 lots in Cavite between 2014 and 2016.

Dulay said Taguba failed to register his business with the BIR prior to operating his trucking business and other ventures.

"Taguba initially registered with the BIR in 2009 as an EO 98 taxpayer and as such is not taxable since his registration is solely for purposes of securing a tax identification number (TIN)," Dulay said.

The BIR commissioner noted that it was only in September 2017 that Taguba changed his taxpayer type from EO 98 to a single proprietorship with the business name Golden Strike Trucking Services.

Dong, meanwhile, earned P320,000 in referral fees from September to December 2017 and donated a total of P8 million to a senatorial candidate in the 2013 and 2016 elections, and another P3 million to another senatorial candidate in 2016, the BIR reported.

Dong also paid P850,000 in 2013 for an SUV, P4.5-million in 2016 for a 2010 luxury vehicle, and P2.4-million for a 2013 luxury vehicle.

He also reportedly acquired a P3.55-million townhouse in Parañaque City in 2013 and received a total P167,000 compensation in 2013 and 2015 from Asuki Weighing System Inc.

Dulay said Dong, however, failed to file any return for income tax, value-added tax or percentage tax from 2003 to 2017, and did not declare any income for 2013 and 2016.

The official also emphasized that other individuals implicated in the controversial illegal drug shipment are not yet off the hook and are also being investigated for possible tax evasion.

The shabu shipment, which slipped past the Manila port in May last year, had prompted investigations by Congress and the Office of the Ombudsman and exposed corruption at the Bureau of Customs.

• New Customs chief admits corruption in BoC

The complaints against Taguba and Dong are the 114th and 115th tax cases filed by the BIR under its Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program under the Duterte administration.