Pawnshop owner William Villarica posts bail

Pawnshop owner William Villarica has posted bail of P300,000 to avoid jail after the Department of Justice charged him in a multimillion-peso tax evasion case.

In a statement Saturday, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the complainant in the case, said it had learned that Villarica posted bail a few days after the DoJ on June 16 found probable cause for the BIR’s complaint against Villarica.

The DoJ has filed a formal case for tax evasion in the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA).

Villarica, sole proprietor of W Villarica Pawnshop, is charged with evading taxes of P22.4 million in 2007 even as he was able to buy a Lamborghini luxury sports car worth P26 million.

Of the P22.4-million tax, P16.2 million covers the tax on luxury items as well as accumulated interest, while P6.2 million is the value-added tax.

It took the justice department one year to file a case against Villarica before the CTA. The BIR filed its complaint with the DoJ in July last year.

The case against Villarica is the first “Run After Tax Evaders” (RATE) case filed by the BIR in the Aquino administration.

Under RATE, the BIR would file charges against high profile individuals and entities to dissuade others from evading their taxes.

The program is aimed at boosting tax collection hand in hand with President Aquino’s directive not to impose new taxes.