21/03/2011 (The Manila Times) - THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has filed tax evasion charges against one of the country's major importers of palm oil for alleged under-valuation.

In a briefing at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, Commissioner Angelito Alvarez said the bureau is suing Trans-Asia Philippines Manufacturing Industry for gross under-valuation and various fraudulent practices against The Tariff and Customs Code with respect to its importation of refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) palm oil.

RBD oil is usually made from copra or dried coconut kernel, and is used for home cooking and commercial food processing. It is likewise an important raw material in the production of soap, washing powder and other hygiene and personal care products.

Charged was Jason Uy Sio, import manager of Trans-Asia, and customs brokers Benjamin Valic, Elinda Dumalaog and Joey Laurente.

Trans-Asia holds office at 5 Golden Road, Caloocan Industrial Subdivision, General Luis Street, Caloocan City.

Alvarez said that Trans-Asia declared a per kilo value of RBD palm oil for as low as P6.60 even though other importers declared $1.18.

Trans-Asia imports its RBD palm oil from Malaysia.

"It was as if a kilo of palm oil suddenly became cheaper than a liter of bottled mineral water," the Customs chief said.

Investigation conducted by the Run-After-the-Smugglers (RATS) Group revealed that in a span of 14 months or between January 2010 and February this year, Trans-Asia imported 38, 694,261 kilograms of RBD palm oil with a declared per kilo value ranging from $.15 (P6.60) and $.50 (P22.00).

Broken into 17 import entries which were unloaded at the Port of Manila, Trans-Asia's palm oil shipments were assessed a value-added tax (VAT) of P64,824,462 since the company "falsely" declared a total dutiable value of only P532,852,511.

If recomputed according to the correct value of $1.18 a kilo, Alvarez said that Trans-Asia's total importation value would have increased to P2.2 billion for which the company should have paid P264.5 million in VAT.

Deputy Commissioner Gregorio Chavez, who is also the executive director of the RATS Group, said Trans-Asia submitted false and spurious invoices to justify the gross under-valuation.

"For trying to save P199 million, Trans-Asia now stands to lose the equivalent of more than P2 billion they spent on their palm oil importations," Alvarez said.

"I instructed Deputy Commissioner Chavez to subject to post-entry audit all previous importations made by Trans-Asia prior to last year. He said the company's liability could increase by several billion pesos more if it could be established that it had used the same modus operandi in the past," the BOC chief said.

He said the bureau will file promptly an amended charge sheet with the Department of Justice that would include the names of other ranking executives of Trans-Asia and BOC employees who aided the fraudulent importations of Trans-Asia.