The West Java Law and Human Rights Regional Office will look into claims that ex-tax officer, now prisoner, Gayus Halomoan Tambunan was allegedly seen enjoying meals at a restaurant recently, an official said on Monday.

Reports of the outing went viral on social media.

The regional office head Wayan Sukarta said that Gayus was in Sukamiskin penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, on Monday. '€œI have instructed [the regional office'€™s] correctional division head to follow up these reports [that Gayus had left prison and visited a restaurant]. We will investigate the personnel involved in the case [if it happened],'€ said Sukarta.

Gayus, the notorious ex-tax officer who received Rp 1.27 trillion (US$88 million) in the nation'€™s biggest tax-evasion scandal, is believed to have left the prison, after a photo of a man who looked like him sitting in a restaurant went viral in social media.

According to Sukarta, Gayus did not leave the prison on May 9, 2015, as claimed in the photograph that went viral in Facebook. He said the penitentiary permitted Gayus to attend a divorce hearing at the North Jakarta Religious Court on Sept. 9, 2015, at which time '€œhe was guarded by security officers, in line with procedure'€.

His wife, Milana Anggraeni, reportedly filed for divorce at the North Jakarta Religious Court.

Aziz Syamsuddin, spokesperson for House of Representatives Commission 3 on law and human rights said the House would summon Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H Laoly for more explanation. "The minister, who is ultimately responsible, has to explain why it happened," Aziz said as quoted by kompas.com. If the photograph is real, he added, then it would be an intolerable scandal as a convicted person must not be able to leave jail freely.

Aziz urged the government to reduce remission which is going to be granted for Gayus, since it was not his first time leaving jail illegally. '€œRewards and punishments must be clear. For example, revoke or delay his remission,'€ Aziz said.

Gayus was sentenced to 30 years in jail for his part in a tax-evasion scandal. On Nov. 5, 2010, he was caught wearing a wig, watching an international tennis match in Bali, surrounded by his relatives.

After that incident, nine police guards have been arrested and face charges of accepting up to $40,000 from Gayus, who has allegedly left jail at least 60 times since his detention in April 2013. (ags)

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