By Nancy Carvajal
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine National Police (PNP) will join forces in probing the company owned by World Balance scion Bernard “Bren Chong, which allegedly manufactured fake receipts for over a thousand companies in the past 15 years.
World Balance scion Bren Chong denies producing fake receipts as court upholds legality of search warrant for his office
A source told Bilyonaryo.com that the investigation on Brenterprise International Inc. will be handled by the NBI’s Anti-Organized and Transatlantic Crime Division and the PNP Cybercrime Group.
NBI agents found booklets of fabricated business documents, including fake receipts, in its raid of Brenterprise’s office at a condominium building in Eastwood City, Quezon City last December.
NBI’s got receipts: Subpoenas to be served to firms over Lyka app owner Bren Chong’s P45-B tax scam
They also found a list of Brenterprise’s clients, which reportedly include a major fast food chain and telecommunications company.
Initial investigation showed Brenterprise may have defrauded the government of P45 billion in taxes by providing companies the necessary documents to misdeclare their income, taxes and other expenses.
Over 1,000 big and small PH firms have reportedly availed of Bren Chong’s fake tax receipts scam
Last week, the Bureau of Internal Revenue filed P25.5-billion worth of tax cases before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against four companies which are reportedly engaged in the production of fictitious receipts.
“What the BIR filed was only the tip of the iceberg. Those companies were in the list found during NBI’s raid of Brenterprise’s office. There are also big companies evading taxes with Brenterprise’s help,” the source said.
Parang Napoles! Firm owned by Lyka app founder, Esports owner and World Balance heir Bren Chong behind P45B tax receipts scam
The source said the BIR was clueless about the syndicate allegedly involved in manufacturing fake receipts until the NBI conducted the raid of Brenterprise’s office following a “test buy.”
NBI agents reportedly learned during the “test buy” that Brenterprise charges .8% of the face value of the receipt requested or ordered by the client. This means a receipt for P500,000 would yield a P9,000 profit for the Chong-owned firm.
The source said Brenterprise’s clients allegedly used the fake receipts to avail of additional deductions in their expenses and value-added tax (VAT) remittances to the BIR.
Chong has denied any wrongdoing, saying that he doesn’t own the office raided by the NBI. He claimed Brenterprise’s office is located in Malate, Manila, while his residential address is in Caloocan City.
