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n graft convict Gayus Tambunan’s final statement to the Jakarta Corruption Court on Thursday, the former tax officer, implicated in four cases of money laundering and corruption, maintained his innocence and said that he only copied the example set by other officials.

Gayus, a former low-ranking tax official who held cash and gold worth Rp 100 billion (US$11.2 million), is accused of bribing National Police Comr. Iwan Siswanto, then the warden of the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) detention center in Kelapa Dua, Depok, in order to leave the facility more than 60 times.

Prosecutors for the Attorney General’s Office have said that he has been found guilty of giving Rp 264 million to Iwan and paying bribes to other guards.

One of Gayus’ lawyers, Hotma Sitompul, said that his client got permission to leave from Iwan by threatening to report four graft and bribery detainees at the Brimob detention center — Aulia Pohan, Soemantri, Susno Duadji and Williard Wizard — who were allegedly given prison reprieves.

Gayus also repeated his description of his escapes as heard in different trials, including during his own over passport forgery at the Tangerang District Court in July last year and in Iwan’s trial, where Gayus appeared as a witness in the Ban-dung Corruption Court last April.

“My cars [a Ford Everest and Honda Jazz] were confiscated but Iwan’s was not. Why?” Gayus said. “This is nonsense.”

He also complained about the confiscation of his house and apartment, saying that it was never mentioned in his indictment.

On Thursday, Gayus pleaded his innocence and said that the prosecutors could not prove a single one of his four charges. “They gathered at least two pieces of evidence to build my case. Yet, until they read out the sentence demanded, none of the evidence has backed the claims of the alleged crimes,” he said.

Earlier this month, prosecutors sought eight years’ imprisonment for Gayus on four counts, including bribing police officers to escape detention. The remainder are for accepting bribes, failure to report a gratuity and money laundering.

Prosecutors also requested an order for Gayus to pay Rp 1 billion in fines.

According to the first charge, Gayus allegedly accepted Rp 925 million in bribes from tax consultant Robertus Santonius to influence his assessment of a tax objection filed by PT Metropolitan Retailmart. Gayus also allegedly accepted $3.5 million in bribes from businessman Alif Kuncoro to help process a “sunset” tax policy for PT Kaltim Prima Coal and PT Arutmin.

Prosecutors also said that Gayus has been proven guilty of accepting gratuities, which was partially based on the small fortune kept in a safe deposit box at a Bank Mandiri branch in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.