A rice importer denied on Thursday being part of a smuggling ring and ratting out the owner of Puregold Price Club Inc. and S&R Superstores as a smuggler.
Conrado Iba帽ez, the importer, said the allegation that he was a smuggler and had colluded with Puregold and S&R owner Lucio Co was a last desperate attempt to make erstwhile Bureau of Customs chief Angelito Alvarez look good.
鈥淥ur goods are all legal and have permits. I don鈥檛 know why they are doing this. Are they doing this to save face?鈥� Iba帽ez said in an interview.
Puregold statement
In a statement to the Inquirer on Thursday, Puregold Price Club Inc. 鈥渧ehemently鈥� denied the accusations in the news article that appeared in the paper on Sept. 15.
鈥淲e would like to reiterate that all business transactions of Puregold Price Club Inc. are based on completely legal and aboveboard procedures and that it complies with all applicable laws and regulations,鈥� Baby Gerlie Sacro, Puregold corporate secretary, said in the statement.
鈥淚n fact, Puregold does not import any goods to the Philippines and all of its merchandise are locally sourced. We have recently received certificates from the Bureau of Customs that state that Puregold Price Club Inc. and its stockholders do not have any outstanding accounts with the BOC, nor are they the subject of any pending investigations or cases related to the importation of goods or any non-payment or underpayment of any tax duties,鈥� the statement said.
Legal action
Iba帽ez, president of Intercontinental Grains, said he would take legal action against the customs officials who accused him of criminal acts.
Alvarez was replaced on Thursday by former Rep. Ruffy Biazon, a party mate of President Aquino in the Liberal Party who lost his senatorial bid in the May 2010 elections.
Iba帽ez said he was not arrested by customs agents, contrary to an earlier news report quoting Simeon Capparozo Jr. of the BOC intelligence division.
Capparozo, he said, had questioned him about his company鈥檚 business.
鈥淢r. Capparozo came to my office last Monday and asked me if I was a supplier of imported Thailand rice to Puregold. I told him 鈥榶es鈥� and not just of Puregold but other supermarkets as well like SM Hypermart, Savemore, Shopwise and Rustan鈥檚,鈥� Iba帽ez said.
鈥淲e even supply rice to the Thai embassy,鈥� he added.
Aside from Iba帽ez, the BOC said it was filing charges against Jimmy Go of Uni-Nexus Trading. According to the BOC, both men were believed to have knowledge of imported cargo in numerous container vans that vanished from Manila ports early this year.
鈥楧on鈥檛 know him鈥�
Iba帽ez also denied telling Capparozo that Co had changed the delivery dates for the goods supposedly going to Puregold before Iba帽ez鈥檚 warehouse was raided on Sept. 9.
鈥淗ow can I tell him anything about Lucio Co, I don鈥檛 even know the Puregold owner personally,鈥� Iba帽ez said.
Iba帽ez鈥檚 warehouse on Tomas Morato Street, Quezon City, was one of those raided by the BOC last week. No goods were seized from it, however.
According to Capparozo, the warehouse allegedly held smuggled rice and sugar from Thailand and Vietnam that were sold to Puregold and S&R.
The BOC also raided the Uni-Nexus warehouse in Caloocan City where about P50-million worth of goods was confiscated. The agency said Iba帽ez鈥檚 products were found in that warehouse too.
Iba帽ez said the BOC report of smuggled rice in the Uni-Nexus warehouse was false.
鈥淭he BOC is apparently looking for the unaccounted for container vans missing from December 2010 up to February 2011, yet our company started operations in April 2011 and our importation started only in May 2011,鈥� he pointed out.
鈥淲e were only leasing space from Uni-Nexus,鈥� he said.