Singer-turned-businesswoman Claire dela Fuente has been sentenced by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) of up to seven years in jail over tax evasion.
Claire deal Fuente, a former popular singer who is now a Metro Manila bus operator was sentenced by the court for seven years of imprisonment due to tax evasion.
This was in connection with the criminal case filed against her by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) 10 years ago, for non-filing of income tax returns (ITR) for the period of 1998 to 2004 by the Philippine Corinthian Liner Corp., her bus company.
Aside from the 7 years imprisonment meted from seven counts of tax violation which is equivalent to one year sentence each, she will be paying a fine of 150,000 pesos.
According to a report courtesy of Manila Bulletin, Claire dela Fuente denied the case filed against her stating that her bus company only started operations in the year 2005.
However, the Court of Tax Appeals dismissed her claim when her records filed at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Land Transportation Office (LTO), Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) was presented by the BIR.
PCLC’s 2005 BIR registration presented during the trial was also debunked by the court as the revenue lawyers described it as “spurious.”
Claire dela Fuente or Clarita Crisostomo Dela Fuente-De Guzman in real life rose to fame with her Jukebox hit song “Sayang.”
She was even dubbed as “Asia’s Sweetest Voice” and was named as the Karen Carpenter of the Philippines.
What can you say about this report? Share your thoughts or insights in the comment section below.
For more news and the latest showbiz updates, feel free to visit this website more often.