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Sri Mulyani jets off to the US amid tax office scandal
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani is attending the International Monetary Fund and World Bank (IMF-WB) annual spring meetings, amidst a brewing scandal that has dealt a blow to the ministry’s erstwhile stellar reputation.
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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (second left) talks during a work meeting with lawmakers from House of Representatives Commission XI, which oversees finance, at the legislative compound in Senayan, South Jakarta, on March 27. In the meeting, House Commission XI members and Finance Ministry officials evaluated bureaucratic reforms in the ministry, following the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre's (PPATK) findings of Rp 349 trillion (US$23.09 billion) worth of suspicious transactions. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
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inance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati is still making the trip to Washington, DC, to attend the International Monetary Fund and World Bank (IMF-WB) annual spring meetings, amidst a brewing tax office scandal that has dealt a blow to the ministry’s erstwhile stellar reputation and leaving the reformist minister deeply hurt.
Her aide, Yustinus Prastowo, confirmed her arrival in the United States capital on Wednesday.
The minister left the nation on Tuesday right after she was grilled by lawmakers at the House of Representatives over more than Rp 300 trillion (US$20 billion) in suspicious transactions at the ministry over the course of 14 years.
Sri Mulyani has been subject to heightened scrutiny following revelations that tax and customs officials had been leading ostentatious lifestyles that appear misaligned with what their positions can afford. An aggravated assault of a teenager by the wealth-flexing son of former Jakarta tax official Rafael Alun Trisambodo in late February led to intense public scrutiny of the family’s exorbitant wealth and opened a Pandora’s box of suspicious transactions linked to a number of officials.
The scandal has left the public largely disappointed that Sri Mulyani was unable to rein in supposedly corrupt tax officials, sparking with social media hashtag #stopbayarpajak (stop paying taxes) to go viral on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Known for her intolerance against cronyism and corruption, Sri Mulyani sacked the tax officer in question, ordered investigations into employees suspected of falsely reporting personal wealth, money laundering and tax evasion, and even held a meeting with social media personalities and influencers to stem the fallout.
For the reformist minister, the scandal has put her years-long effort to instill good governance at the ministry in jeopardy one year before her term ends.
