Tax Evasion claim: We are clean- La Bianca MD

The Managing Director of La Bianca Company Limited, Etse Gadegbeku has refuted and denied claims of Tax Evasion of import duties levelled against it by one Fred Asare.

According to him, the company operates in an extremely competitive environment thus sees this claim as a fabrication meant to tarnish their sales fortune as Christmas approaches.

In an interview with Asaase Radio, Mr. Gadegbeku further mentioned that his company went through all the appropriate legal application procedures relative to the discount given them thus rubbished the substance of the petition.

 “We operate in a highly competitive environment and I strongly believe these are bad tactics by our competitors to smear the image of the company and the CEO, Honourable Eunice Buah Asomah Hinneh, to gain advantage for the upcoming busy Christmas season. This is the latest move after all attempts by them had failed. We strongly deny the allegation of corruption and import duties evasion. La Bianca Company went through all the legal and proper application processes before the discount was given,” he said.

“The substance of their petition does not deny the practice of applying for discount…,” he added

Petitioning of the OSP

A Ghanian citizen called Fred Asare per a letter dated November 16, 2021, wrote to the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Adjebeng, and reported La Bianca as having evaded taxes relative to its application to the Commissioner, Customs Division for consideration on some import values of some products.

“La Bianca Company Limited purportedly applied to the Commissioner, Customs Division, on 21 October 2021 for consideration on customs import values for certain products it had imported into the country.”

The petition further noted that the Deputy Commissioner, Operations of the Customs Division granted La Biance a 10% mark-down of the approved benchmark values for some imported foods.

“Pursuant to the said application, the Deputy Commissioner, Operations, Customs Division, by a letter dated 26 October 2021 purportedly granted a 10% mark-down of the approved benchmark values for imported frozen foods from 26 October 2021 to 31 December 2021.

“In the said letter, the Deputy Commissioner, Operations, Customs Division, cited Section 12 of the Customs Act 2015 (Act 891) as the basis of the discount of a 10% mark-down he granted the company,” the petition read in part.

Moreover, the complainant argued that Section 12 of the Customs Act 2015(Act 891) does not support the 10% markdown given to the company.

“Section 12 of the Customs Act 2015 (Act 891) deals with the subject matter of ‘Advance Ruling’ and does not support the grant of 10% mark-down given to the company by customs, given the nature and content of the application in the issue.”

The petition concluded by strongly calling on the Office of the Special Prosecutor to intervene swiftly to protect the state from revenue losses by stopping the Customs Division of the GRA and La Bianca from continuing their illegality.

“If the Office of the Special Prosecutor does not intervene, the La Bianca Company and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority will continue to perpetuate this illegality, leading to more revenue losses to the state and the collapse of the local poultry industry and the businesses of their competitors in the imported frozen food industry”.

In his reaction, Etse Gadegbeku noted that the Company’s CEO, Mrs. Eunice Buah Asomah Hinneh did not at any point use her status as a Member of the Council of State to influence the decision of the Customs Division.

Furthermore, he mentioned that even though Mrs. Eunice Buah previously served on the Board of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, she is no longer a member thus has no control over the activities of the Ghana Revenue Authority(Customs Division).