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Finance Ministry welcomes KPK support in internal reform
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On alert — Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Agus Rahardjo (right) and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati speak at a press conference following the arrest of a tax official over bribery allegations, at the antigraft body headquarters in Jakarta on Nov. 22. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)
T
he Finance Ministry is ready to accept the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) support in carrying out internal reform, following a recent bribery case implicating an official from the ministry’s Directorate General of Taxation, a minister has said.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the ministry would help the KPK to further investigate the bribery allegedly committed by the tax official, in the hope that the incident could provide “momentum to trigger reform at the taxation directorate general”.
“We will intensify cooperation with the KPK to create preventive measures and to establish systemic reform, not only at the tax office but also in the ministry as a whole," she said at the antigraft body’s headquarters on Tuesday, where she gave a press statement in response to the arrest of the tax official by KPK investigators.
Sri Mulyani added that one effort to prevent corrupt practices was the ministry’s plan to minimize direct interactions between taxpayers and taxation officials.
KPK commissioner Laode M. Syarif said the antigraft body was ready to help the Finance Ministry in developing a platform to prevent similar cases.
KPK investigators apprehended Handang Soekarno, a middle-ranking taxation official from the ministry, along with businessman Rajamohanan Nair, during an operation in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Monday evening.
Handang is accused of accepting US$148,500 of a total Rp 6 billion ($447,427) in compensation promised by the businessman for assistance in evading Rp 78 billion in taxes owed by his company. The two have been charged under the 1999 Corruption Law. (fac/ebf)
