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Customs office identifies suspected directors
The Directorate General of Customs and Excise confirmed Tuesday that the personal wealths of two of its officers were suspiciously large and admitted it had identified 25 loopholes in the directorate’s working system that were ripe for exploitation
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T
he Directorate General of Customs and Excise confirmed Tuesday that the personal wealths of two of its officers were suspiciously large and admitted it had identified 25 loopholes in the directorate’s working system that were ripe for exploitation.
“In terms of positions they are equivalent to directors,” Director General of Customs and Excises Thomas Sugijata told reporters during the official opening of a new Customs and Excise office at Alam Sutera, Tangerang.
Thomas said the two officials were heads of provincial customs and excise offices, but refused to mention their names or where their officers were.
He identified them only by the initials T and J.
According to an internal source, T is head of the Jakarta office, and J retired in March as head of the West Java office.
The officials’ personal fortunes were disclosed by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) earlier this week.
Thomas said the two were alleged to have been involved in corruption from 2005 until 2010.
“Their cases are now in the hands of the authorities,” he said referring to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
According to the KPK, T had assets worth Rp 3.97 billion, including Rp 1 billion in demand deposits, plus houses and land in Bekasi, West Java.
J was worth Rp 6.8 billion as of 2007, a wealth that comprised thousands of meters of land in Bogor, West Java, and a number of vehicles, including a Jeep Wrangler and a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Previously, the PPATK uncovered suspicious amounts of funds in the personal accounts of tax officials Bahasyim Assifie, who had Rp 64 billion, and Gayus Tambunan, who had Rp 28 billion.
The two cases have led to an intensification of investigations into all departments within the finance ministry, including the Customs and Excise Office and the National Police, which have had officials implicated in case brokering.
Thomas said his office had launched an internal investigation to identify other violations, and that already 25 loopholes had been found in the office’s regulations.
Those included regulations on goods inspections, supervision of incoming and outgoing goods in restricted areas, importer registration, document inspection and the establishment of new offices, he said.
“We are now doing internal control so that there will be early warnings for any corrupt practices because officials are monitored by their superiors.”
“There will be no official who is not monitored,” he added.
