But on Tuesday, although still half-heartedly, he had to concede that practices of bribery remain widespread at the office.

Patrialis, often described by critics as incompetent in managing the ministry, implied that former taxman Gayus H. Tambunan, using fake data, obtained a new passport with the help of certain officials at an immigration office in Jakarta.

“Someone under the name of Sonny Laksono went to Macau and Kuala Lumpur in September. The photo in the passport resembles a wig-wearing Gayus,” Patrialis said at the State Palace.

In November, Gayus sparked nationwide controversy when he was photographed watching an international tennis tournament in Bali although he was supposed to have been held at the Police Mobile Brigade detention facility in Depok, West Java. Gayus said his Bali sojourn was for recreational purposes.

In a letter to Kompas daily on Sunday, Devina, an Air Asia passenger, testified that she saw a man resembling Gayus in the waiting room for a flight from Jakarta to Singapore on Sept. 30. The government then followed up the lead.

“A man wearing a wig and glasses entered the waiting room and was on the same flight as me to Singapore,” she wrote.

 The South Jakarta District Court will soon issue a verdict in Gayus’ graft trial, where prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison sentence for the former taxman.

Gayus on Monday told the court to arrest the real culprits in the tax scandal. He p2reviously claimed he received millions of dollars from businesses partly owned by the Bakrie family. The firms have denied the claim.

Patrialis has taken several measures — including introducing online registration — in response to public criticism that obtaining a passport was difficult without paying off officials. There have also been frequent media reports about how criminals and terrorists easily flee the country using forged or officially issued passports.

At a year-end media briefing last week, Patrialis claimed his ministry was the fastest in the world in issuing passports, taking just four working days.

Patrialis said data from the immigration office showed that Sonny (Gayus’ name in the passport) flew on Mandala Airlines to Macau on Sept. 24 last year and returned to Jakarta on state flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia on Sept. 26.

“On Sept. 30, Sonny travelled to Kuala Lumpur.

However, the immigration office at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport did not have any
data on when he returned to Jakarta, which is strange,” Patrialis acknowledged.

He added that Sonny’s passport was issued by the East Jakarta immigration office. The passport was originally provided for another applicant, Margaretta, who did not complete her application process.

Patrialis, a politician with the National Mandate Party (PAN), refused to comment on who was responsible for the passport scandal. But he added that the ministry had formed a team to investigate the case.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto urged the police to investigate the case. “I hope the Judicial Mafia Taskforce will help police crack the case,” he said.

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