BIR Files Charges Against Richard Gutierrez Over Falsified Documents

Actor Richard Gutierrez faces new criminal charges filed against him by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The BIR alleges that the actor submitted falsified documents in July 2017 to answer earlier allegations of tax evasion.

According to CNN Philippines, BIR filed the case with the Department of Justice. In a statement about the case, they said that Gutierrez “used fake and falsified tax returns to secure the dismissal of the tax evasion case filed against R Gutz Production Corporation.”

Falsification Of Public Documents And Perjury

In April, the bureau formally filed a P38.57 million tax evasion case against Gutierrez and his production company. In response to the charges, the actor submitted in July a counter affidavit together with tax return documents, showing that the company paid the appropriate taxes in 2012.

After reviewing the documents, BIR discovered that they were falsified. According to an ABS-CBN report, the documents in question are an annual tax return and 3 quarterly value-added tax returns. BIR Assistant Commissioner James Roldan said, “There is a stamp ‘received’ in the documents; we traced that there’s a name there, the person who allegedly received it (returns) has denied receiving that. It’s not his signature there, and the stamp that he used isn’t the stamp that is used in that office… all that point that these documents submitted are fake.”

Aside from submitting fake documents, he also faces charges of perjury for the affidavits he presented during the preliminary investigation of the tax evasion case.

Richard Gutierrez Has Yet To Respond

ABS-CBN received a text from the actor’s laywer, Marie Glen Garduque, saying that they have not received a copy of the new complaint. She also added, “As far as Richard is concerned said documents have the original stamped received from the BIR. At any rate, Richard will just answer as soon as he receives the copy of the complaint.”