PM Philip Morris International Inc

By Joshua Jamerson 

Prosecutors in Thailand widened their tax-evasion allegations against the Thai subsidiary of tobacco giant Philip Morris International Inc., alleging that the company under-declared the value of cigarettes imported from Indonesia.

Philip Morris, which disclosed the charges in a U.S. securities filing Tuesday, said that prosecutors are seeking a fine of about 19.8 billion baht ($562 million) for intent to defraud the government.

The Jan. 26 charges by the Thai government follow charges from January 2016 that Philip Morris's Thailand subsidiary under-declared the value of 272 batches of Philippine-made Marlboro and L&M Brand cigarettes brought into the country between July 2003 and June 2006. The charges related to Indonesia are in connection to 780 batches of cigarettes during the period from January 2002 to July 2003.

Philip Morris has previously called the earlier charges "meritless" and "unjust," and in the Tuesday filing said it disagrees with the allegations related to its cigarettes imported from Indonesia.

The first hearing related to the Indonesian matter, expected to focus on preliminary procedural matters, is slated for April. With regard to the Philippines charges, the government is seeking about 80.8 billion baht ($2.29 billion); the trial related to those allegations is expected to begin in the last quarter of 2017.

Philip Morris stock edged down 0.7% to $102 a share in early trading.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 14, 2017 11:58 ET (16:58 GMT)

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