A team from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) visited the house of director general of Taxation M. Tjiptardjo in the upscale Taman Rempoa Indah housing complex in Tangerang to verify his wealth disclosure report submitted in 2008.

Data from the KPK shows Tjiptardjo amassed Rp 2 billion in assets in the last two years, mostly due to an increase in the value of his property.

His wealth initially stood at Rp 7 billion and $52,624 in foreign currency in 2008 when he was director of intelligence and investigation at the tax office.

“There was an increase in asset prices after 21 months, mostly from the hike in the resale value of holdings,” Tjiptardjo said.

Apart from the house in Taman Rempoa Indah, Tjiptardjo also owns another house located half a
kilometer away. The house is under his wife’s name, Ahyani. According to the housekeeper, the owner
kept several exotic animals in a menagerie.

“I look after five deer, two cassowaries and four peacocks,” the housekeeper, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

There were also three MPVs parked in the driveway.

Yanti, a neighbor, said that Tjiptardjo also owned two other houses.

“I heard the houses were for his children,” she said, adding that one of the houses was still under construction.

Tjiptardjo dismissed speculation that he had more assets than his subordinate, tax officer Gayus Tambunan, who has been named a suspect in a tax evasion, money laundering and embezzlement case.

Gayus’ case came to light after former National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji hinted at case brokering practices at the police force. The Directorate General of Taxation has come under much criticism following the case.

Tjiptardjo did not submit a wealth disclosure report to the KPK last year although he was expected to do so after being assigned to his current post in July 2009.

He maintained that he had routinely provided the KPK with the reports, saying he had reported his wealth to the KPK three times since 2003.

The KPK director in charge of state officials’ wealth disclosure, Cahya Hardianto Harefa, said that the commission had started checking all assets belonging to Tjiptardjo, including his house in Rempoa Indah.

“We haven’t verified the latest value of his property as we are still examining it,” Cahya said.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the verification team would also visit other property owned by
Tjiptardjo.

He said that the KPK and Finance Ministry requested more tax officers report their wealth.

Today, 4,500 tax officers are required to submit their wealth reports to the commission. They include tax investigators and middle-ranking officials. Johan said not all of them had submitted reports.

He said that in the future, the number of those required to submit a report would increase to 10,000 and would include low-ranking officials. The move, he added, was a request by Finance Minister Sri Mul-yani Indrawati.

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