Sunday, April 20, 2008 16 execs sued over smuggled steel sheets
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has filed criminal charges against 16 officials of a steel firm that was responsible for the smuggling of P160 million worth of steel sheets in Carmona, Cavite.
The bureau's Run After The Smugglers (Rats) team filed the case against Steel Pro Philippines officials before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Charged for violating the Tariff and Customs Code were Jasper Tan, president; Janette Nellie Chiu, vice president; Beltran Belizar, import and export officer; Paulette Gail Tan, secretary/treasurer; and Warren Tan and Edwin Tan, both directors.
Also charged were Pierre Tan, vice president of JET Properties and Perfect Steel; Jeffrey Tan, director of Perfect Steel; J. Harvey Ringler, president of Phil. Bonded Warehouse Services, Inc. (PBWSI); Elaine Tan, PBWSI general manager; and directors Eduardo Concepcion, Ma. Dominique Inigo, Kara Talan, Danilo Concepcion and Joey Laurente.
Included in the charge sheet were Customs guard Gregorio Santos and licensed broker Eduardo Hebron.
Earlier, Commissioner Napoleon Morales asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze the bank account of Steel Pro and the personal accounts of its executive officers.
The coils of steel sheets formed part of shipment from Taiwan imported by Philippine Bonded Warehouse Services, Inc. for the account of Steel Pro Philippines.
The steel sheets were apprehended early this month inside an unnamed warehouse at Mountainview Industrial Complex (MIC) in Cavite, but upon verification it was found that it was registered under JET properties.
According to Morales, the shipment was diverted to its final destination at Steel Pro Warehouse in Trece Martires, Cavite.
Bonded warehouses are allowed to receive dutiable imported materials direct from the ports without these items passing through Customs because these are to be processed into finished products. The products are not intended for local consumption, and are re-exported after processing in the Philippines. (FP/Sunnex)
