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KPK detains ex-taxman Rafael on charges of taking bribes
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Wearing an orange detainee jacket, Rafael Alun Trisambodo (center), a former official at the Finance Ministry’s Taxation Directorate General, leaves the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters in South Jakarta on April 3, 2023, after a questioning session. The KPK detained Rafael on charges of accepting bribes from taxpayers for the past 12 years of his career at the Finance Ministry. (Antara/M Risyal Hidayat)
T
he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has detained former mid-ranking tax collector Rafael Alun Trisambodo, who has been in the spotlight for showing off his lavish lifestyle, on charges of taking bribes from taxpayers for the past 12 years.
Rafael was taken into custody on Monday after at least seven hours of questioning by KPK investigators and is to remain in detention for the next 20 days as the antigraft body builds a case around his work as a tax controller at the Finance Ministry’s directorate general for taxation.
“He allegedly accepted gratuities from taxpayers for tampering with tax audit findings,” KPK chief Firli Bahuri said during a press conference in Jakarta.
Firli alleged that Rafael had started committing such financial crimes after becoming head of audits, investigations and tax collection at the East Java Tax Office in 2011.
The former taxman, who has since been dishonorably discharged from the ministry, allegedly recommended his own tax consulting firm, PT Artha Mega Ekadhana, to auditees looking to solve their tax problems.
In return, he would accept payments that investigators estimated could be up to US$90,000. The KPK also confiscated a safe containing Rp 32.2 billion ($2.16 million) and 70 luxury bags from his house in Simprug, South Jakarta, in a search last week.
Rafael was detained after the antigraft body said it had found sufficient evidence last week to name him a suspect in the case, nearly a month after the KPK first called Rafael in for questioning on March 1.
