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Gayus spent US$500,000 bribing law enforcers
Former tax officer Gayus Tambunan admitted before the court on Tuesday he had spent US$500,000 bribing police, prosecutors and judges to be acquitted of corruption charges
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F
ormer tax officer Gayus Tambunan admitted before the court on Tuesday he had spent US$500,000 bribing police, prosecutors and judges to be acquitted of corruption charges.
Testifying as a witness at South Jakarta District Court for the trial of Adj. Comr. Sri Sumartini, one police investigator who allegedly received part of the massive bribe, Gayus said he had channeled most of his money through his lawyer Haposan Hutagalung.
"I gave $500,000 in *success fees' to police, prosecutors and judges," Gayus said quoted by Antara news agency.
On top of the $500,000, Gayus admitted that he had also spent another $20,000 to cover Haposan's *operational expenses' and $100,000 to bribe the police so they would not detain him while he underwent interrogations. To have his bank accounts unblocked, he told the court, he paid another $35,000.
Gayus also had to pay the police another $45,000 so that investigators would not seize his mansion at an upscale housing complex in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.
Gayus, who amassed a fortune in excess of Rp 100 billion from dubious sources, was acquitted of embezzlement charges by Tangerang District Court earlier this year. His conspiracy with law enforcers was brought to the surface by disgruntled former National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji - himself on trial for graft.
Sri Sumartini was among the investigators suspected of having received $45,000 from Gayus to spare his mansion. She stands trial for her alleged involvement in the judicial corruption that initially let Gayus off the hook.
When judges ask how he knew Sri had received the money, Gayus said he entrusted all payments to his lawyer Hutagalung, who has been named a suspect in the same case.
When asked about the origin of his fortune, Gayus said Rp 5 billion of it had come from PT Kaltim Prima Coal, a company belonging to the Bakrie family.
PT Kaltim Prima Coal is one of three Bakrie companies from which Gayus has admitted to receiving billions of rupiah to "fix" the amount of tax they had to pay. All companies deny Gayus' claims. So far, the police have not acted on the information.
Gayus previously made similar allegations to investigators but National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said his statements were "baseless" because he failed to provide police with any evidence.
Besides Gayus, prosecutors also presented several police investigators - Second Insp. Angga, Adj. Sr. Comr. Mardiyani and Sr. Comr. Pambudi Pamungkas - to the court as witnesses.
Pamungkas, the former head of the National Police money laundering unit, testified that Sumartini's name was initially not listed as an investigator in Gayus' case.
"Her name was added to the list later by Comr. Arafat because she helped him handle the case," he said.
However when asked whether he was aware the case files had been manipulated by his subordinates to free Gayus, Pambudi told the court that he had been ignorant.
"I was replaced by Sr. Comr. Eko Budi Sampurno in the middle of the investigation, so I did not follow the progress of the case," he said.
Eko's claims were, however, questionable because it was he who signed Gayus' case files before they were handed on to prosecutors.
