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Lawyer accuses tax officials of attempted extortion
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Suspected – Handang Soekarno (center, in orange vest), an official from the Finance Ministry’s Directorate General of Taxation, leaves the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building after an interrogation session on Nov.22. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)
T
he lawyers representing Rajamohanan Nair, a suspect in an alleged tax evasion ploy implicating an official at the Finance Ministry’s Directorate General of Taxation, have claimed that the businessman had fallen victim to extortion attempts committed by officials at the tax office.
Tommy Singh, one of the legal team members, said three officials at the directorate general had threatened Rajamohanan that the tax amnesty application he had filed for his company would be rejected unless he paid a sum of money.
“Our client had filed a complaint to the government regarding the treatment he faced. However, no action had been taken until the [alleged bribery] incident occurred," Tommy said at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building on Thursday evening.
He declined to reveal the names of the three officials suspected of having attempted to extort the money from his client.
KPK investigators arrested Rajamohanan, a director at PT. EK Prima Ekspor Indonesia, along with Handang Soekarno, a middle-ranking official at the directorate general in an operation in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Monday.
It is alleged that Handang accepted bribes worth US$148,500 to help the businessman evade his company’s tax arrears amounting to Rp 78 billion ($5.76 million).
KPK commissioner Laode M. Syarif said earlier on Thursday that he suspected the money given to Handang was from Rajamohanan's office, leading the anti-graft body to investigate the possible involvement of other people at his company. (fac/ebf)
