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Jakarta Post

Disgraced taxman wants to be justice collaborator

A tax official recently named suspect for accepting bribes from a steel company said on Friday that he wanted to be a justice collaborator and expose graft at the tax office

Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, May 18, 2013 Published on May. 18, 2013 Published on 2013-05-18T10:28:21+07:00

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tax official recently named suspect for accepting bribes from a steel company said on Friday that he wanted to be a justice collaborator and expose graft at the tax office.

Eko Darmayanto, the taxman, said after being questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that he knew of top officials at the tax directorate general embroiled in graft.

'I will disclose everything,' he told reporters at the KPK headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

Eko mentioned the case of PT Genta Dunia Jaya Raya, which produced counterfeit tax reports for other companies, as one of the cases that he would disclose.

According to him, a director at the company was a relative of the Finance Ministry's tax director general, Fuad Rahmany.

'I'm willing to be fired but I hope that Bapak [Fuad] is also willing to resign if my statements are proven to be true,' he said.

Eko also admitted that he was guilty of the bribery case that had implicated another tax officer named Mohammad Dian Irwan Nuqishira. 'I take full responsibility,' he said.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that the antigraft body would study the information provided by Eko before he could become a justice collaborator.

'[His information] could expose bigger cases,' he said.

Eko and Dian were named suspects on Thursday for allegedly receiving S$300,000 (US$240,558) in cash from steel company PT The Master Steel.

The KPK also named Teddy Mulyawan, finance manager at The Master Steel, a suspect for allegedly acting as a courier, and Effendy Kumala, a manager at the same company.

Johan said that the KPK suspect the two taxmen also received an additional S$300,000 on May 7.

According to a source within the KPK, the company's tax bill for the past three years totalled as much as Rp 120 billion.

The tax office is believed to be plagued with graft despite claims by its top officials of 'reform'.

Last month, the KPK charged a tax official in Central Jakarta with extortion for demanding money from a businessman who claimed to have paid his taxes.

The official was identified as Pargono Riyadi, who allegedly tried to extort Rp 125 million (US$12,900) from Asep Hendro, owner of motor cross spare parts and accessories manufacturer Asep Hendro Racing Sports (AHRS).

Pargono was caught accepting a bribe from Rukimin, the middle man, at Gambir Station in Central Jakarta. Besides Pargono and Rukimin, the KPK also sepa-rately arrested Asep, Wawan, a manager at AHRS, and S, a tax consultant.

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