BOC exec faces charges of unexplained wealth

The Department of Finance (DOF) filed yesterday before the Office of the Ombudsman a joint complaint-affidavit against an official of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for amassing illegal wealth and living a lifestyle which the government feels is beyond his capabilities.

The DOF’s Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) charged Juan Jose San Andres, Customs Operations Officer of the BOC for accumulating real estate properties valued at roughly P20 million.

In its complaint, the DOF-RIPS questioned how the respondent could afford to finance the purchase of such an extensive portfolio of valuable real estate holdings given his low salary. RIPS said that Andres’ highest gross annual salary is only P240,816 or P20,068 a month before taxes.

Aside from amassing residential properties, Andres also purchased high-end vehicles from 2004 to 2006, with a total estimated value of P1.4 million.

The DOF-RIPS said this is a “troubling enigma,” considering that Andres’ aggregate income for those years amounted to only P427,176.00.  

Furthermore, the department also questioned Andres’ travels to foreign destinations such as San Francisco, United States, Japan and China.

DOF-RIPS said that Andres has acquired wealth clearly disproportionate to his salary and legitimate means.

As such, it yesterday asked the Office of the Ombudsman to file the appropriate criminal information against Andres as well as the appropriate administrative charges.

It also asked that the Ombudsman to issue an order directing the forfeiture, in favor of the government, of all properties unlawfully accumulated by Andres. RIPS is mandated to conduct lifestyle checks, investigate allegations of graft and corruption and to file criminal and administrative complaints against erring officials and employees of the Finance department and the BOC.

The DOF unit has been filing charges against erring officials of the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as part of government efforts to curb corruption.

The National Government has blamed corruption and tax evasion for its low tax take. It hopes to balance the budget this year after decades of incurring deficits.