On June 22, at the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, I had the opportunity to meet Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla through the introduction of Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez.

The ambassador introduced me as a tax advocate who has spent much of his career promoting tax policy reforms, fighting corruption through stronger tax administration, and helping attract foreign direct investments to the Philippines.

During our brief conversation, I shared with Ombudsman Remulla a lesson from one of the most famous criminal cases in history: the case of American mob gangster Al Capone.

Al Capone was widely believed to be involved in organized crime, bootlegging, bribery, and violence during the Prohibition era in the United States. Yet despite years of investigations, authorities struggled to secure convictions for many of those offenses. Ultimately, Capone was convicted not for being a gangster, but for tax evasion.

The lesson remains relevant nearly a century later.

When corruption cases become difficult to prosecute, governments should follow the money.

In the Philippines, investigations involving alleged anomalies in public spending, procurement, infrastructure projects, confidential funds, budget insertions, questionable liquidations, and other forms of misuse of public funds can take years, if not decades, to resolve. Witnesses disappear. Documents are challenged. Cases move slowly through the justice system. Political alliances change. Public attention shifts elsewhere.

Meanwhile, taxpayers continue to shoulder the burden.

This is precisely why financial investigations and tax enforcement should be at the center of our anti-corruption strategy.

If a public official possesses wealth that is grossly disproportionate to legitimate sources of income, that discrepancy should trigger a thorough financial and tax audit. While unexplained wealth alone does not automatically establish criminal liability, it raises serious questions that warrant scrutiny by the appropriate authorities.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), working closely with the Office of the Ombudsman, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), the Commission on Audit (COA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Land Registration Authority (LRA), and other agencies, possesses powerful tools to examine Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), income tax returns, property records, corporate interests, beneficial ownership structures, and financial transactions to determine whether tax laws have been violated.

Tax evasion is often easier to establish than corruption because tax cases focus on a more objective question: Was income earned, received, or accumulated, and was it properly declared and taxed?

The principle is simple: if wealth exists, its source must be explained.

If the source cannot be lawfully established, authorities should determine whether taxes were properly paid. If taxes were not paid, the government should pursue the appropriate civil, administrative, and criminal remedies under the law.

A successful tax prosecution carries significant consequences. Beyond the payment of taxes, penalties, and fines, criminal convictions can result in imprisonment. More importantly, public officials convicted of corruption and tax-related offenses should face perpetual disqualification from holding public office. Accountability should not end with imprisonment. Those who betray the public trust should never again be entrusted with the power to spend taxpayers’ money, award government contracts, or craft the laws of the land.

The fight against corruption should not depend solely on headline-grabbing investigations. It should be supported by a coordinated system that follows financial trails, detects unexplained wealth, and enforces tax laws consistently regardless of political affiliation, position, or influence.

As a global tax policy expert, I am often asked by foreign investors what the Philippines must do to become more competitive. My answer is always the same: strengthen institutions, enforce the rule of law, and ensure accountability.

Investors are attracted not only by tax incentives and economic reforms. They are attracted by trust. They invest where contracts are respected, laws are enforced, and corruption is punished. They invest where institutions are stronger than personalities.

Corruption undermines democracy, weakens institutions, distorts public spending, and erodes public trust. Every peso lost to corruption is a peso taken away from classrooms, hospitals, flood control projects, infrastructure, and social services. Every unresolved corruption case sends a dangerous message that accountability is optional for the powerful.

The Philippines does not need to reinvent the wheel. The Al Capone strategy has existed for nearly a century.

Follow the money.

Audit unexplained wealth.

File tax evasion cases where the evidence warrants.

Impose the full penalties under the law.

And ensure that those who enrich themselves at the expense of taxpayers are permanently barred from public office.

I respectfully urge Ombudsman Remulla, BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza, and other government leaders to work together with urgency and determination. Where corruption is suspected, financial investigations should begin immediately. Where unexplained wealth exists, tax audits should follow. Where tax violations are found, prosecutions should proceed without fear or favor.

No sacred cows. No exceptions.

If we are serious about ending impunity, strengthening democracy, and restoring public trust, we must remember the lesson that brought down Al Capone: sometimes the fastest path to accountability is not through the crime itself, but through the money it leaves behind. – Rappler.com

Mon Abrea is a Global Tax Policy Expert and Chief Tax Advisor of the Asian Consulting Group (ACGlobal), the Philippines’ premier international tax advisory and investment consulting tirm. A graduate of Harvard, with executive education at Oxford and advanced tax policy studies at Duke, he is known as “The Philippine Tax Whiz” and a leading advocate of genuine tax reform, advising multinational corporations, foreign investors, and policymakers. Follow him @askthetaxwhiz