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Former tax officials charged in Rp 21b tax fraud
The National Police said on Tuesday that the two former tax officials they arrested a day earlier allegedly helped a now-defunct listed pulp and paper company, identified as PT SAIPK, evade taxes
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he National Police said on Tuesday that the two former tax officials they arrested a day earlier allegedly helped a now-defunct listed pulp and paper company, identified as PT SAIPK, evade taxes.
The police's special economics crime unit arrested the officials, identified as Denok and Totok, for allegedly accepting Rp 1.6 billion (US$140,800) in bribes from Berty, a commissioner at SAIPK, between 2005 and 2007. Berty has been in police custody since Monday.
The three suspects were charged with corruption and money laundering, the police said.
The special economics crime unit's deputy director, Sr. Comr. Rahmat Sunanto, said the suspects, who were then employed at the Tax Office for Listed Companies, processed the company's tax restitution worth Rp 21 billion.
'There is a criteria list for tax restitution. But the officer did not follow it, which helped the company gain all of the tax restitution,' Rahmat told a press conference at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.
Following the arrests, the police have frozen four bank accounts under the names of Denok, Totok, Berty and her business partner. 'The business partner has been questioned as witness in the case,' Rahmat said.
As of Tuesday, the police had questioned 29 witnesses, four of whom were experts on corruption, money laundering and tax crimes.
In 2008, the Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) discovered the two official's suspicious transactions and reported its findings to the police and the Finance Ministry.
In response to the report, the ministry dismissed Denok and Totok in Dec. 2012.
The ministry's investigation division inspector, Rahman Ritza, said the two officials had filed appeals on their dismissals. 'We thank the police for arresting them. This shows that they have been implicated in crime. This will become grounds to reject their appeals,' he said at the press conference.
Rahmat noted that the police had faced difficulties in collecting evidence since the company had been dissolved. 'We have been investigating for almost two years,' he said.
The Surabaya Commercial Court declared the company's bankruptcy on April 16, prompting the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) to suspend the company from trading on the market two days later.
The arrests of two former tax officials occurred a day before the sole National Police candidate, Comr. Gen. Sutarman was officially endorsed by the House of Representatives. Graft and police watchdogs have lambasted Sutarman, who currently serves as the police's criminal investigations division chief, for his inaction to divulge major graft cases, with some of them implicating police officers.
During an interview at the House, some lawmakers urged Sutarman, if elected, to form a special anticorruption detachment to step up the police's performance in combating corruption. Sutarman said he agreed with the proposal.
On Tuesday, the House approved Sutarman's appointment, which will see him succeed Gen. Timur Pradopo.
