Government continued payments to company in tax fraud probe

A COMPANY under investigation for tax fraud continued to receive  contracts and payments  from the government of Juan Carlos Varela.

According to reports, Ashe Entertainment Group, S.A. – which operates under the trade name Showpro, led by businessman Alfredo Arias – has received disbursements of $1.4 million since July 2015.

They included a $354,112 payment to organize activities for Children’s Day and $250,000 for a Christmas activity in Parque Omar reports La Prensa.

Ashe Entertainment received another payment of $245,000 to decorate areas of Casco  Viejo for Christmas. There was also a payment of $288,000 to decorate nine other parks for Christmas.

These contracts were issued despite the fact that Showpro was being investigated at the time for possible tax evasion by the  governmen’s General Directorate of Revenue, reports La Prensa.

On Jan. 5, the directorate ordered the seizure of bank accounts and other property belonging to Ashe Entertainment Group, World Wide Promotions Group and Alfredo Arias totaling $10.2 million. The agency said it had detected $1.7 million in possible tax fraud.

Three days later, the comptroller approved the payment of three contracts to Showpro for Christmas events.

Ashe Entertainment had declared losses in 2010 and 2011, and said it had zero revenue in 2012. But an investigation found that the company failed to report more than $3 million in revenue during that period.