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Anies-Muhaimin campaign spokesman arrested for tax embezzlement
Presidential candidate Anies Baswedan said he respected the legal process and reiterated that everyone was equal before the law.
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Presidential candidate Anies Baswedan (second right), along with running mate Muhaimin Iskandar (second left), greets reporters upon arriving at Jakarta Convention Center ahead of the second 2024 election debate on Dec. 22, 2023. (Antara/M Risyal Hidayat)
The East Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office has arrested Indra Charismiadji, a spokesman for the Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar campaign team, for alleged tax embezzlement and money laundering crimes.
The acting head of intelligence at the prosecutors’ office, Mahfuddin Cakra Saputra, said that Indra, the owner of a company called PT Luki Mandiri Indonesia Raya, and Ike Andriani, a company employee and another suspect in the case, are accused of tax embezzlement and money laundering by deliberately not filing the company’s tax returns for value-added tax (VAT) for the January-December 2019 period.
“[The alleged crimes have] caused a loss to state revenue of Rp 1.1 billion [US$71,568]," said Mahfuddin in a statement on Thursday, as quoted by Kompas.
He said the suspects also reportedly failed to deposit the company’s VAT taxes from 2017 to 2019 and intentionally published tax invoices that were not based on real transactions.
Mahfuddin explained that Indra’s arrest on Wednesday night was part of the handover of suspects and evidence from East Jakarta Tax Office investigators who previously handled the case. The handover took place earlier that day at the East Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office.
Responding to Indra’s arrest, presidential candidate Anies Baswedan said he respected the legal process and reiterated that everyone was equal before the law.
“The whole legal process that [Indra] has gone through is the proof that we respect law enforcement and it is important to ensure that the process upholds justice, not for other purposes,” said the former Jakarta governor on Thursday, on the sidelines of a campaign event in Banyuwangi, East Java.
Anies, who himself was under investigation by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for an alleged graft case in the capital’s Formula-E electric motorsports race, has noted on numerous occasions how the government bends the law to favor President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his aides.
He has also criticized the appointment of the President’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as the vice presidential candidate of Prabowo Subianto, through a controversial ruling at the Constitutional Court.
Anies even confronted Prabowo on his decision to pick Gibran in the first presidential election debate.
Azis Yanuar, head of Anies-Muhaimin legal team, confirmed the arrest and explained that Indra was currently a suspect in a taxation crime case. He ensured his team would provide legal assistance.
“We still need confirmation from the [suspect’s] family. We’ll disclose more once it has been clarified,” said Aziz, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
Neither suspect had previously been detained during the investigation conducted by the East Jakarta Tax Office. As the case enters the prosecution phase, Indra has been detained at Cipinang Penitentiary, while Ike is being held at Pondok Bambu Penitentiary. Both suspects will be detained for 20 days until Jan. 15, 2024.
