MANILA -- Citing the Prosecution’s failure to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has junked the P44.7-million tax evasion case against “pork barrel queen” Janet Lim Napoles.

In an 84-page decision promulgated on March 21, the CTA Second Division dismissed the 12 cases lodged versus Napoles who was accused of violating the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997.

“After careful consideration of the evidence presented by the plaintiff and the accused, the Court finds that the plaintiff failed to discharge the burden to prove the elements of the crimes charged against accused with proof beyond reasonable doubt,” the Court said.

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“This Court, has no basis for the imposition of civil liability upon the accused,” it added.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Corazon Ferrer-Flores.

The investigation, initiated by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), claimed that Napoles and her husband, Jaime Napoles, underdeclared their income from 2004 to 2009, did not file their Income Tax Returns (ITR) from 2010 to 2012, and did not pay the right tax thereafter.

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According to the Joint Complaint-Affidavit, however, the spouses Napoles,“were able to purchase real properties, a number of motor vehicles, several insurance policies and club shares and that they have also invested tens of millions of pesos in various new corporations, which acquisitions and investments, they could have conceivable acquired given the income they stated in their ITRs.”

“A comparison of the respective incomes declared by Spouses Napoles vis-a-vis their expenses for TYs 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 clearly indicates that the expenditures exceed their declared income per ITRs,” the affidavit further said.