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Tax amnesty legalizes money laundering, says NGO
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One Justice Foundation chairman Sugeng Teguh Santoso (right) talks with House of Representatives member from the Prosperous Justice Party faction Ecky A. Muharram (second right), public communications expert Emrus Sihombing (second left) and politician Bursah Zarnubi (left) in Jakarta on July 14. (JP/Ivany Athina)
O
ne of the applicants of a judicial review of the Tax Amnesty Law has urged President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to re-examine Article 20 of the law, which he claims “legalizes” money laundering.
Sugeng Teguh Santoso, the chairman of non-governmental organization One Justice Foundation, said the President must be warned that the article allowed individuals suspected of conducting illicit transactions—such as corruption and illegal drug transactions—to escape the law.
The article, as he said, stipulated that any information gathered in relation to the implementation of the Tax Amnesty Law couldn’t be used in investigations and criminal prosecutions against amnesty participants.
“What kind of criminal prosecutions does it mean? Which criminal acts? It turns out that it refers to all kinds of criminal acts, as explained in its preamble,” Sugeng said on Thursday in Jakarta, adding that if a person who had conducted illicit transactions joined the tax amnesty program, none of the data they submitted could be used as evidence in criminal investigations.
“So, in this case, I’d say it makes money laundering a legal practice,” he told journalists.
Civil advocate groups One Justice Foundation and People's Struggle Union officially filed requests for a judicial review of the recently passed Tax Amnesty Law on Wednesday. (vny/ags)
