THE National Bureau of Investigation has arrested an employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte for robbery extortion.

Renan Hechanova y Alforque of the BIR’s Revenue District Office 91 was nabbed in an entrapment operation sprung by the NBI Dipolog District Office (NBI-DIPDO) last Jan. 18, the bureau said in a statement released Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022.

The operation came after a complainant said that in November 2021, he received a Letter of Authority from the BIR-RDO 91 indicating that he had a tax deficiency of P4.5 million.

In December, the complainant said, BIR Dipolog City personnel demanded P400,000 from him to settle his tax deficiencies, saying that if he did not pay up, they would forward his case to their Regional Office in Zamboanga City and he would then be forced to pay the full P4.5 million deficiency.

Later that month, the complainant said, he went to the BIR office where two BIR examiners, including Hechanova, granted his request for more time to produce the demanded P400,000.

On Jan. 18, the complainant returned to the BIR office to make the payment, during which NBI-DIPDO operatives apprehended Hechanova with the marked money he had just received from the complainant.

The NBI said Hechanova will be charged with violating Article 294 (Robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons) under the Revised Penal Code, as amended; Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Practices Act); and RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees). (CTL)