Raps filed vs 2 BIR execs

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed criminal charges against two Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officials recently arrested for allegedly extorting money from the owner of a firm which incurred P2.5 million in tax liabilities.

Ramon Wilfredo Pagarigan, chief of the BIR-Collection Enforcement Division and Augusto Barretto, former BIR-Revenue Officer I, were charged at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office for violation of Republic Act 3019, also known as Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and direct bribery.

"There being sufficient evidence to hold respondents for trial, let an information be filed in court charging both suspects with anti-graft and direct bribery," said a Quezon City inquest prosecutor, who recommended P250,000 bail for each of the suspects.

NBI agents said Pagarigan is currently confined at the St. Lukes Medical Center after he collapsed upon learning of the arrest order at a Quezon City restaurant last Sept. 17.

In a report, the NBI said the suspects were arrested while in the act of receiving marked money from complainant Apolinario Rivera Jr., president and general manager of Omnibus Resources Corp., which, according to the BIR officials, has incurred P2,683,235.37 in tax liabilities since 1995.

Rivera claimed he was asked to produce P250,000 "so the problem would be solved."

It was last Wednesday when BIR officials set the pay off. Pagarigan initially resisted arrest but he was later pacified.

When examined, the suspects were found positive for the presence of fluorescent powder on their hands. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Pia Lee-Brago