BOC to auction Derek Ramsay’s supercar

MANILA, Philippines — Due to alleged misdeclaration and underpayment of taxes, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will file a warrant of seizure and detention on the Porsche supercar whose registered owner is actor Derek Ramsay.

Ramsay’s luxury car will be auctioned after it is forfeited in favor of the government because it was categorized as a lower-class vehicle, BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said yesterday.

“The physical vehicle was a Porsche 918 Spyder, but in the documents it was a Porsche Boxster,” Nepomuceno said.

He said the car was valued at approximately P48.02 million, but Customs records listed its declared value at only P3.26 million when it entered the country in 2021.

“The taxes paid were P1.8 million only. If this were the correct declaration, the minimum payment should be P35 million,” Nepomuceno said.

Of the 198 units worldwide, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) said only four are registered in the Philippines, including Ramsay’s seized unit.

Based on BOC records, the car was imported from the United Arab Emirates through Emirates National General Trading.

“The consignee at the time it was imported to the country was Tobirama Enterprises. Its Customs broker was Richard Singh Colasco. We will sue them for smuggling,” Nepomuceno said.

BOC and LTO employees who issued documents for the supercar will also be investigated, according to Nepomuceno.

He said the BOC would summon Ramsay as part of the probe.

In an Instagram story on Sunday, Ramsay maintained that he is not a smuggler nor a car importer.

The actor said he bought the supercar from Jhon Lee of JWorks, who informed him that the vehicle’s taxes were properly paid.

Ramsay said it was later registered with the LTO, with the plates and registration papers issued under his name.

“I want to reiterate that I purchased the vehicle in good faith and believed that everything was properly documented and legally registered,” Ramsay said. “I had no involvement in the importation, taxation or registration of this vehicle.”

Ramsay appealed to JWorks to explain and settle the issue.

LTO chief Markus Lacanilao said the agency would decide this week on the status of the driver’s license of businessman AJ Violago, who drove the car with a fake license plate.

The supercar will remain in LTO custody as the BOC said it “lacks warehouses” to store smuggled luxury cars.