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Business associate of Jokowi in-law found guilty of bribery
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Businessman Arif Budi Sulistyo, the brother-in-law of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, attends a hearing as a witness during the trial of retail executive Ramapanicker Rajamohanan Nair who was found guilty of bribing a tax official on Monday. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
T
he Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced businessman Ramapanicker Rajamohanan Nair to three years behind bars and Rp 200 million (US$15,082) in fines on Monday for bribing a tax official to help him settle his company's tax problems.
Ramapanicker was found guilty of giving high-ranking tax official Handang Soekarno Rp 1.9 billion in bribes in November last year.
The verdict also revealed that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's brother in-law, Arif Budi Sulistyo, had a role of connecting Ramapanicker to Handang before the two were arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officials for bribery in November last year.
(Read also: Jokowi’s in-law in graft trial)
The court said Nair contacted Arif through a text message to help him figure out ways to solve his company's issues after he received notification from the tax office that his company had unpaid tax dues in 2014 and in 2015 amounting to Rp 75 billion.
Arif later forwarded Nair's message to Handang.
The verdict quoted Arif as saying to Handang in the text message, "whatever the decision [...] hopefully it will be the best for [Ramapanicker]."
To which Handang replied: "Noted. I will meet [Ramapanicker] tomorrow morning."
Arif previously told the court that he knew Ramapanicker as a business partner and that he once tried to help him with his company's problems, including registering for the government's tax amnesty program.
Arif is married to Jokowi's youngest sister Titik Relawati and is the operational director of the president's extended family's flagship company PT Rakabu Sejahtera. (wit)
