Thread: OAG formally charges Philip Morris for 20 billion baht tax evasion

The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) said today it has filed a lawsuit against the American tobacco and cigarette giant Philip Morris International Inc's Thailand unit, accusing eight of the company's foreign and Thai executives of false declarations of its imports and of the evasion of duties and import taxes.

The alleged tax evasion dated back to 2003.

Spokesman of the OAG Lt Somnuek Siengkong said at a press conference today that the case was brought before the criminal Court yesterday against the Thai subsidiary, Philip Morris (Thailand) Ltd for a total of 272 offences which the eight defendants committed since July 2003 to June 2006.

The lawsuit named eight defendants including a foreign and Thai executives. They included Philip Morris manager Troy Modlin.

The offences they committed related to false declaration of true value of cigarette imports with intent to evade taxes. The evaded taxes and duties amounted to 20.21 billion baht in tax evasion, he said.

Besides, he said the the Customs Law also states clearly of intentional tax evasion is subject to a fourfold fine of the evaded tax plus the value of the imports or a 10-year imprisonment, or both.

He said the Criminal Court has accepted the lawsuit for trial with the first hearing set on April 25 at 9.00 am.

Meanwhile the deputy attorney-general Mr Chartpong Chiraphand said the Criminal Court had earlier issued warrants for the arrest of four foreign executives of the cigarette company who are still at large.

He said the case against the foreign executives has a statute of limitation of 15 years and until now it has five years remaining before it expires.

He was confident that if these foreign fugitives could be apprehended within the remaining period, they would be brought for trial before the court.

The global tobacco and cigarette giant’s Thailand unit faces criminal charges over allegations that it underreported the value of cigarette imports to the Asian nation for years and thereby avoided about $2 billion in duties and import taxes.

But it denied the accusations from the Thai government’s Department of Special Investigations, which alleged that back in 2009, company subsidiary Philip Morris (Thailand) Ltd. didn’t declare the true value of its imports.

OAG formally charges Philip Morris for 20 billion baht tax evasion - Thai PBS English News

A spokesperson for Philip Morris International Inc said ...







Come on Thai PBS, up your game.

have they arrested the thai executives ?

Some more info..

Thailand's prosecutor has charged the local unit of Philip Morris International of under-reporting the value of imported cigarettes, which led to tax revenue losses of about 20 billion baht ($551.27 million), the attorney-general said.

The case involves cigarettes imported by Philip Morris Thailand from the Philippines between 2003 and 2007, the prosecutor told reporters. In addition to the company, seven Thais were also charged, as well as four foreigners who were outside the country, they added.

A court will hear the case on April 25. If convicted, the company will have to pay 80 billion baht in damages, and each defendant faces up to 10 years in prison.

Philip Morris Thailand said the charges were unjust.

"Not only are these charges wholly without merit ... they also call into question Thailand's commitment to fairness, transparency and rule of law," branch manager Troy Modlin said in a statement.

A 2010 ruling by the World Trade Organization said that Thailand had no grounds to reject the import price of cigarettes from the Philippines, and Thailand has previously lost a case over the issue.

The Philippines has complained that a series of domestic taxation and customs valuation by Thailand that started in 2006 had undermined the competitiveness of its cigarettes against those produced by the state-controlled Thailand Tobacco Monopoly.

Thai prosecutor charges Philip Morris Thailand in cigarette imports case | Reuters

Ah ha. Someone other than Thai making the money so...

They couldn't do this when the previous government was in power but now...

It isn't called The Tobacco Monopoly for fun...

Philip Morris Thailand vows to fight customs charges case vigorously

Thailand’s office of America’s giant cigarette producer Philip Morris has vowed to fight vigorously customs charges lodged by the public prosecution and asserted that the Thai government’s decision to indict the company breaches World Trade Organisation’s obligations.

In a statement issued today, Philip Morris Thailand said that the customs charges against the company are meritless, unjust and in violation of Thailand’s obligations to comply with WTO Customs Valuation Agreement. The company said that the charges stemmed from the investigation by the Department of Special Investigation which began almost ten years ago into allegation that the company under-declared import prices for cigarettes it imported from the Philippines between 2003-2007.

PMTL branch manager Mr Troy Modlin insisted that the company had done nothing wrong. Not only the charges are without merits, he said the charges called into question Thailand’s commitment to fairness, transparency and the rule of law.

Philip Morris Thailand said that the decision of former attorney general Julasingh Vssantasing to charge the company and its current and former employees contradicted the non-prosecution order the OAG made more than four years ago as well as prior rulings of the Customs Department, the Customs Board of Appeal and Customs Post-Clearance Audit Bureau and WTO.

The company also said it had cooperated with all involved governmental agencies since the DSI launched its investigation in 2006.

Philip Morris Thailand vows to fight customs charges case vigorously - Thai PBS English News

Originally Posted by Hans Mann

he said the charges called into question Thailand’s commitment to fairness, transparency and the rule of law.

Can anybody honestly say that with a straight face?

Philip Morris cheats on its US taxes. Not surprising they would do the same everywhere else they do business.

Originally Posted by misskit

Philip Morris cheats on its US taxes. Not surprising they would do the same everywhere else they do business.

Ahhh yes but it's not 'cheating' if you're a massive multinational with politicians in your pocket: it's prudent business practice.

It's only cheating if your a small businessperson, worker, or the like.

Tobacco import row with Thailand elevated to WTO

“Despite the repeated statements to this Body that it ‘will take steps to ensure’ the WTO-consistency of its actions, Thailand has just filed criminal charges against an importer of Philippine cigarettes for the alleged under-declaration of customs value,” the Philippines said in a statement submitted to the WTO.

“The circumstances surrounding the prosecution demonstrate a very close relationship to the circumstances surrounding the measures at issue in the original WTO proceedings. Specifically, the original WTO proceedings and the prosecution involve the same importer into Thailand, the same exporter, the same exporting country, the same product, the same declared customs values for the same brands, and the same circumstances of sale,” it added.

The Philippines said that the original WTO proceedings and the prosecution involve the same type of legal determination -- that is, a determination by Thailand that importer under-declared customs values of Philippines goods.

“To determine what it considers to be the proper customs value, Thailand has used, as the basis for the prosecution, a WTO-inconsistent method that Thailand initially relied upon in the original panel proceedings but then expressly abandoned as the grounds for its valuation decisions,” it said. “The WTO panel ruled that Thailand enjoyed no legitimate grounds to reject the customs values it now subjects to criminal prosecution.”

It said the prosecution involves an attempt by Thailand to criminalize declared customs values that the original panel in the dispute ruled should not be rejected, “through the resurrection of a WTO-inconsistent valuation method that Thailand itself abandoned in the original proceedings in the dispute.”

“The Philippines is also concerned with a series of further compliance issues that remain outstanding, nearly four years after Thailand was to have fully complied with this Body’s recommendations and rulings,” the Philippines said.

In response, Thailand said it “has taken all actions necessary to implement the [dispute settlement board’s] recommendations and rulings in this dispute. We would therefore like to refer to our previous Statements we have made here.”

The latest exchange before the WTO’s settlement body on Jan 25 follows a statement made by the Philippines in November last year pointing to Thailand’s non-compliance with WTO rulings.

In a statement submitted to the WTO’s dispute settlement body on Nov. 25, the Philippines said it is “deeply concerned” about two issues that undermine the recommendations and rulings relating to Thailand custom’s treatment of imported cigarettes, and the resulting agreement between the two countries.

“First, the Philippines remains deeply concerned with the Thai Attorney-General’s decision to prosecute the importer of Philippine cigarettes for alleged under-declaration of customs value,” the statement reads.

“Second, the Philippines is also deeply concerned about a separate Thai BoA [Customs Board of Appeals] ruling rejecting transaction value for 20 entries from Indonesia that were covered by the rulings and recommendations in the original proceedings in this dispute,” it says.

The complaint stemmed from concerns first raised by the country in February 2008 that highlighted a number of Thai fiscal and customs measures affecting cigarettes from the Philippines.

The measures include Thailand’s customs valuation practices, excise tax, health tax, TV tax, value-added tax regime, retail licensing requirements and import guarantees imposed upon cigarette importers. The Philippines claimed that Thailand administers these measures in violation of provisions under the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

The Philippines made separate claims about various Thai customs valuation measures affecting cigarette imports. It also claimed that Thailand’s ad valorem excise tax, health tax and TV tax, on both imported and domestic cigarettes, are inconsistent with a GATT provision that requires the publication of trade laws and regulations of general application.

BusinessWorld | Tobacco import row with Thailand elevated to WTO

Philip Morris pleads not guilty to huge import tax dodge

Tobacco giant Philip Morris on Monday pleaded innocent to dodging hundreds of millions of dollars in import taxes, a crime carrying a fine of up to 80 billion baht.

Prosecutors accuse the local unit of the company, which owns the Marlboro and L&M brands, of evading some 20 billion baht in taxes by under-declaring import prices for cigarettes from the Philippines between 2003 and 2006.

In fact, the duty-free end price of the cigarettes was much higher....

Philip Morris pleads not guilty to huge import tax dodge | Bangkok Post: business

I bet the lawyers are wanking themselves stupid over this one

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

"Not only are these charges wholly without merit ... they also call into question Thailand's commitment to fairness, transparency and rule of law," branch manager Troy Modlin of one of the most dirtiest underhand companies in the world working for one of the most dirtiest underhand industries in the world, and hailing from the country that is categorically THE MOST corrupt, THE MOST unfair, the LEAST transparent and has the LEAST regard of laws of their country or countries overseas .

There- fixed the quote

Originally Posted by pseudolus

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

"Not only are these charges wholly without merit ... they also call into question Thailand's commitment to fairness, transparency and rule of law," branch manager Troy Modlin of one of the most dirtiest underhand companies in the world working for one of the most dirtiest underhand industries in the world, and hailing from the country that is categorically THE MOST corrupt, THE MOST unfair, the LEAST transparent and has the LEAST regard of laws of their country or countries overseas .

There- fixed the quote

So no blame to the dirty corrupt Thais trying to wheedle their way out of a WTO agreement so they can trouser some extra cash?

The time to disagree with agreed valuations was at the beginning, not now.

I hope they lose and get told to shove it up their fucking arses. Bunch of amateurs.

Obviously it is not yet really the Tobacco Monopoly that they want?