MANILA -- Revenue officials on Thursday announced the filing of criminal charges against a businessman found in possession of PHP213 million of fake cigarettes with bogus excise stamps.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Eastern Visayas Region filed the criminal complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Tacloban businessman Paul Cartel Radam for unlawful possession of articles without payment of the excise tax, and for posessing false, counterfeit, restored or altered stamps.
Radam, whose businesses the Paul Radam Realty and PR Petron Filling Stations located at Nula-Tula,Tacloban City -- is being charged for an estimated aggregate excise tax liability of PHP212.625 million.
The National Bureau of Investigation in Eastern Visayas started its investigation last year on fake cigarettes and cigarettes with fake excise taxes that were stored in a warehouse at Barangay 74, Maharlika Highway, Nula-Tula, owned by Radam.
It was discovered that various master cases of cigarette brands were inside the warehouse.
Random testing using a Taggant reader to check the authenticity of excise stamps confirmed that the cigarette packs bear fake stamps and carry the same serial number.
A total of 1,215 master cases containing various cigarettes with fake stamps were marked and seized. (PNA)
