Joel Mendez gets jail for tax evasion

MANILA, Philippines - Beauty clinic owner Joel Mendez was sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison after the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) found him guilty of two counts of tax evasion.

He was also ordered to pay a fine of P10,000. Mendez has 15 days from receiving the decision to appeal his conviction.

In a ruling disseminated to reporters by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, the CTA said Mendez did not pay more than P3.6 million in taxes, failed to file an income tax return in 2002 and did not disclose several branches of his clinic in his ITR for 2003.

Mendez owns Mendez Medical Group, which operates Body & Face and Weigh Less Center. He has popular celebrity clients and endorsers.

The CTA dismissed the defense of Mendez that he could not include his other branches in his 2001 and 2002 ITRs since those clinics were still inexistent.