W

ealthy tax officer Dhana Widyatmika, who is charged with accepting gratuities and bribes, may also face money laundering charges, according to a senior official with the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).

Deputy Attorney General Darmono confirmed on Wednesday that AGO investigators suspected that some of Dhana’s businesses and bank accounts may have been used to launder funds coming from illicit practices.

 “[The money-laundering charges] may be required given the suspect’s many assets and transactions,” Darmono said. “We are using the ‘follow the money’ method.”

 With the additional money-laundering charges, judges would have the ability to place the burden of proof on Dhana to explain the sources of his assets.

The law, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison, also means that Dhana’s assets could be confiscated by the state should he fail to prove the legality of their provenance.

 Attorney General Basrief Arief previously said prosecutors had been looking into the possibility that Dhana might have been part of a syndicate of higher-ranking tax officials who colluded in “collective” corrupt practices.

Separately, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said he had not received information about the suspicious transactions from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK). “We will support the legal process,” he said.

 Activists have hailed the possibility of money laundering charges against Dhana as a potential breakthrough for investigators looking to open Dhana’s “Pandora’s Box” to fully uncover further acts of corruption and prosecute other actors involved in the syndicate.

 “With money laundering charges, the bribers, as well as any other figures involved in Dhana’s corrupt acts, would be easier to find. Thus, law-enforcement officials wouldn’t have any excuse for not charging everybody involved in the case,” Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) activist Emerson Yuntho said.

 Experts have called on investigators to look into the possibility that Dhana’s bank accounts were used by his superiors to launder funds illicitly collected from taxpayers.

 Notorious graft convict and former low-ranking tax official Gayus Tambunan was known to have
received substantial gratuities from corporate taxpayers.

Basrief, however, said that allegations of business involvement in Dhana’s case were still being studied. “The suspect has been charged with bribery. Who bribed him? We are still working on that,” he said.

Dhana, 38, was declared a graft suspect last week following reports suggesting that he had Rp 28 billion (US$3.11 million) and $250,000 deposited in 18 banks. All of these accounts have been frozen.

The AGO has also seized Dhana’s assets which include cash, securities and gold as well as a Mini Cooper and a Chrysler PT Cruiser.

On Wednesday, Darmono revealed that the AGO had seized a number of safe-deposit boxes rented by Dhana but did not disclose what the boxes contained.

Dhana has been banned from leaving the country since Feb. 21.

Dhana’s lawyer, Daniel Alfredo, released a statement on Wednesday, denying that his client held dozens of accounts in 18 different banks. “My client says he only had five active bank accounts,” Daniel said.

AGO spokesman Noor Rachmad said investigators would question Dhana and his wife, Dian Anggraini, who is also a tax official, on Thursday. “We will also question officials from their offices and authorities from the Finance Ministry’s Inspectorate General,” Noor said.

Speculation is rife that Dian may have assisted her husband in his corrupt practices. Basrief, however, stated that Dian was currently only a witness in the case.