The Count of Mario Crespo

Mario Crespo a.k.a. as Mark Jimenez, who is serving a two-year sentence for illegal campaign contributions and tax evasion, is counting the days when he shall make his triumphant return to the Philippines. Word from our Florida Eye-spy is that Marky baby may get off earlier than expected from his minimum-security federal detention center because of "good behavior" and the "best friend" relationships he established with his jailers. Much like Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo, Mark Jimenez is coming back with a vengeance with plans to run for Mayor of Manila. If MJ still has the kind of wealth he supposedly has, then he may just return with a big splash like Gen. Douglas MacArthur – a unique case of life imitating art and history.

A hankering for vengeance

The normally combative and garrulous Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, ex-American International Group chief, suddenly became tongue-tied during a 45-minute meeting with New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer on the scandalous "cooking" of AIG’s books. His silence, however, should not be taken as a sign of surrender because the marauding Maurice is quietly working to restore his power and pelf. Days before he was ousted as CEO, he transferred some 41 million shares of company stock valued at $2 billion to his wife Corrine. While Hank may be out as AIG chief, he still wields considerable power through offshore entities like Starr International that controls 12 percent of AIG shares. Vengeful Hank flexed his muscles and got the AIG execs who forced his resignation kicked off the board of directors of Starr International, namely Martin Sullivan, who replaced him as CEO and Executive Vice Chairman Donald Kanak. Despite his high fall from grace, his arrogance can’t allow him to accept his downgraded status after almost 40 years of ruling the roost. It is axiomatic that once dictators are toppled they try to regain power. In the end, the vengeful Hank won’t get the "restoration" he so desires. Not if Spitzer can help it. In fact, people like him will go down in history in the league of despots still wanting to clutch to power and to the past.

Imported cement: Smuggling or dumping?

A cement importer has been importing since 2001 from its Japanese parent firms cement at a declared $2.45 per ton FOB, plus freight cost of $14.50 per ton, totaling $39.67 CIF. Lately, however, Ear-spies reported, the firm declared $38.21 per ton FOB, plus freight of $1.60 per ton, totaling $40 CIF for its last two importations. If it is true that the FOB value of the cement leaving Japan is $38.21 per ton, then the freight could not have changed so dramatically overnight. Freight rates from Japan to RP today range between $14 and $18 per ton. The correct declaration of the firm’s freight costs should be $14.50, as it had been for years. The dutiable value in that case would be $52.71 per ton (that is $38.21 FOB plus freight of $14.50). That means given the current declaration scheme of the importer, it is shortchanging the Bureau of Customs by P3.5 million (that is $21.015 in Customs duties and $42,030 in VAT at a P54.81-$1 exchange rate) on each 11,000-ton ship it imports from Japan. Two such ships have supposedly unloaded cement at those "new" rates. One on Feb. 28, 2005 and the last on April 11, 2005. These add up to P7 million so far. Not paying these duties is tantamount to technical smuggling on the part of the importer. In Japan, cement sells at $70-$80 per ton. Japanese exporters to RP may be concerned that if the value declared is $24.45 FOB, it would be too obvious that they are dumping. In case we have forgotten, "dumping" is when a firm sells a product to an export market at a substantially lower value than what it sells for in its domestic market.

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