(IPYS/IFEX) – Chief Prosecutor Arquimedes Pesantes asked the Tax and Customs Court to sentence former Frecuencia Latina/Canal 2 television station owner Baruch Ivcher to 12 years in jail for customs fraud, tax evasion and falsifying documents. The trial, which was to start on 14 September, is part of a campaign of government harassment against Ivcher […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Chief Prosecutor Arquimedes Pesantes asked the Tax and
Customs Court to sentence former Frecuencia Latina/Canal 2 television
station owner Baruch Ivcher to 12 years in jail for customs fraud, tax
evasion and falsifying documents. The trial, which was to start on 14
September, is part of a campaign of government harassment against Ivcher
because of the reports made by his television station before his
citizenship was revoked and he lost control of the station, says IPYS.
**Updates IFEX alert of 2 September 1998. For background, see various IFEX
alerts.**
Ivcher is also the owner of a leading mattress manufacturing company. The
tax department has taken various actions in order to create difficulties
for the company. According to Ivcher’s lawyers, if the case against him
succeeds, the courts could liquidate the business.
Ivcher’s company is accused of overvaluing its mattress production
materials (which would have actually generated an overpayment of taxes). As
such, says IPYS, the charges have no basis, as there was an overpayment of
taxes rather than tax evasion. As well, the tax laws establish that
criminal proceedings can only be initiated by Customs or the national
taxation body (SUNAT). In this case, the trial is based on the statement of
a single “ghost witness” identified as David Evans. Evans lives in Miami.
The police investigating for the prosecutor’s office initiated the case on
the alleged declaration of Evans and some photocopies he allegedly gave
them. However, Evans did not sign any statement, and all efforts to locate
and speak with him have lead nowhere. He has not been called to sign his
statement or confirm the information he is said to have given to police. It
is illegal in Peru to begin a trial of that nature with only the testimony
– let along unsigned and unconfirmed – of an individual.
There have been numerous irregularities in the trial which are the subject
of a legal challenge by Ivcher’s lawyers. According to a number of
analysts, this trial is one more in a chain of actions by the government
against Ivcher to consolidate the removal of Channel 2 from his control and
to liquidate all of his economic interests in the country.
