BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares said Thursday her agency will check if Cedric Lee, whose group was accused of mauling actor Vhong Navarro, was paying the correct taxes to the government.
"The reason why we said we will look into Lee is because he mentioned that he's a reputable businessman, that he owns all these companies, so we have to satisfy our curiosity; or if there's a suspicion, we have to satisfy that," she told reporters at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The BIR will begin its probe with transactions entered into by Lee and business partner Tyrone Ong, who was charged with tax evasion in June 2012 for failing to pay nearly P184 million to the government.
He is presently detained on graft and malversation cases at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City for the anomalous repair and maintenance of 28 units of V-150 light armored vehicles (LAVs) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for more than P400 million in 2007.
Ong is the president of Enviroaire Inc., a Mandaluyong-based corporate supplier of the PNP of motor equipment and vehicle spare parts.
He was also linked to the so-called Euro-generals of the PNP, after he was named during a Senate inquiry by former police director Eliseo dela Paz as the source of the undeclared 45,000 euros seized from him by Russian customs officials in 2008.
The money was supposed to be used to purchase a watch for Ong.
Henares said some individuals also volunteered “incriminating” information on Lee but these will have to be verified.
"Parang mag-asawa, may nakita kang isang kiss mark, siyempre mag-iimbestiga ka," she said.
Lee earlier scoffed at Navarro’s allegation that he asked for as much as P2 million in exchange for the safety of his family and non-release of videotaped confession that the actor tried to rape model Deniece Cornejo in her condominium unit in Taguig City.
The businessman, who reportedly owns 14 companies involved in mining, construction and land reclamation, said it was Navarro who offered to pay for the damage to Cornejo’s unit. (Sunnex)