The Bureau of Customs BOC may auction 13 luxury cars owned by the Discaya couple if they fail to prove the legitimacy of the purchases, according to BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno on Wednesday.
Pacifico ‘Curlee’ and Cezarah ‘Sarah’ Discaya have been linked to anomalous flood control projects.
In a previous Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the flood control mess, Sarah admitted to owning 28 luxury vehicles.
The luxury cars are inside the compound of the BOC after the agency issued a warrant of seizure and detention covering the 13 vehicles after finding sufficient grounds for seizure due to improper documentation of purchases.
‘It means that it is a formal process where the cars will be forfeited and will become properties of the government if they fail to prove for one last time that they have proper documentation and payments,’ Nepomuceno told reporters in an interview. Nepomuceno said that the Discayas, Pacifico and Sarah, will be given an opportunity to prove the legitimacy of importation and documentation.
He said that hearings will start on October 9.
Nepomuceno gave three options once the vehicles are forfeited: auction; complete destruction of the vehicles; and donation to other agencies.
He, however, said that the agency will neither destroy the vehicles nor donate to other agencies.
‘These can be auctioned. We will ensure that once we do it, the auction will be transparent and the bidding will be competitive so the money collected from it will be used for programs of the government,’ Nepomuceno said.
He noted that all of the 13 vehicles may be sold at around P220 million in total.
He also explained that of the 13 cars, the seven cars were found to have no import entry records and certificate of payments (COP):
Toyota Tundra
Toyota Sequoia
Rolls Royce Cullinan
Mercedes-Benz AMG G83 AMG SUV
Mercedes-Benz G 500
Lincoln Navigator 2021
Bentley Bentayga
Meanwhile, the remaining six vehicles have import entry records but dubious COPs or no payment documentations at all:
Lincoln Navigator 2024
GMC Yukon Denali
Cadillac Escalade 2021
Maserati Levante Modena
GMC Yukon XL Denale
Cadillac Escalade ESV Last September 10, the BOC announced that as part of its initial investigation, eight cars were classified as smuggled for having no import entry records and COP while another seven had import entry documents but no payment certificates.
Nepomuceno previously announced that if the Discayas fail to prove the legitimacy of the purchases, the agency would issue a warrant of seizure and detention.
‘They complied with providing documents but when we looked at those, we were not convinced that the documents were proper,’ they said.
Nepomuceno also said that upon validation, two of the 15 cars initially found to have missing documents have been proven to have legitimate papers.
The BOC previously secured 30 luxury vehicles of the family to undergo verification of importation records and assessment of duties and taxes.
Nepomuceno also shared that 17 of these cars were purchased from car dealers with good track records of documentation and payment.
However, he said that they will still undergo post-audit clearance.
Who are the BOC personnel responsible for this?
Nepomuceno said that the BOC issued show cause orders to more than 10 of its personnel to explain how the cars entered ports under their authority.
‘At this point, it’s still a show cause order. If it elevates into a case, then we will have the opportunity to disclose. At this point, we are protecting their privacy once we find out that their explanations may be accurate,’ he said.