Bilyonaryo - Business

NBI’s got receipts: Subpoenas to be served to firms over Lyka app owner Bren Chong’s P45-B tax scam

January 3, 2023

Bilyonaryo.com

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will be issuing subpoenas to companies that allegedly tapped the services of a firm owned by World Balance scion Bren Chong to evade taxes.

A Babbler said the names of the companies to be subpoenaed were based on information obtained by the NBI from the forensic examination of 24 computers seized from the office of Brenterprise International Incorporated at a condominium building in Eastwood City, Quezon City.

“Part of the due process is to ask these companies to explain why they availed the services of Brenterprise, particularly with regard to the alleged use of fabricated documents,” the Babbler said.

Among the items seized during the raid were various fabricated commercial documents that companies use to evade taxes, such as receipts for collection and delivery.

A source at the NBI likened the modus of Chong’s company to the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, with the revenue lost by the government pegged at P45 billion.

Based on the NBI’s investigation, Chong’s company charges less than one percent or .8 percent of the “face value” of every fabricated document requested by its clients. Brenterprise has reportedly been operating for 15 years.

Chong, whose father owns the sports footwear and apparel company World Balance, has been on the run since June 2021, after a Manila court issued a warrant for his arrest over his alleged involvement in the botched smuggling of P1.87-billion worth of shabu at the Manila International Container Port (MICP). He is also the owner of the Bren e-sports team.

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