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114690
Fri, 04/02/2010 - 14:47
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News Focus: HIGH-RANKING POLICE OFFICER MAY BECOME SUSPECT IN GAYUS CASE
By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, April 1 (ANTARA) - A police brigadier general is likely to be named a suspect in an alleged Rp25 billion worth of tax evasion and money laundering case that involved Gayus Tambunan, a tax official of the directorate general of taxation.
The possible implication of the police officer was revealed in a meeting on Thursday between National Police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri and the House Commission III on legal affairs.
"(The police chief) disclosed the possibility of a one-star police general being named a suspect in the case. Examinations are moving toward a brigadier general," Bambang Soesatyo of the House Commission III said after the meeting.
Soesatyo who is a Golkar Party politician said the House Commission III was waiting for the promise of the police chief to completely reveal alleged money laundering, corruption and case manipulation by Gayus Tambunan.
The legislator did not mention the name of the brigadier general but adding: "He is a one-star general who is likely a regional police chief.
Previously, former chief detective Commissioner General Susno Duadji said two high-ranking police officers were allegedly involved in money laundering and tax evasion cases worth Rp25 billion with Gayus Tambunan as the main suspect.
Susno who is a former head of the Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) said the two generals were Brig.Gen EI, former director II for special economic affairs of the Bareskrim and Brig. Gen RE, also former director II of the Bareskrim's economic affairs.
At present, EI and RE are undergoing investigation at the National Police's Profession and Security Affairs.
In connection with the examinations of the two high-ranking police officers, Laode Husein of the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) suggested that the two should be suspended to enable smooth investigation.
"They should be suspended temporarily for the sake of smooth examinations," Laode Husein told ANTARA in an SMS text message on Thursday.
Earlier, deputy coordinator of the Indonesian Corruption Watch Emerson Juntho urged Police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri to suspend the two brigadier generals. Emerson said that the suspension of two high-ranking police officers was needed to prevent inconvenience during the investigation.
The alleged involvement of the two generals in the case came up to the surface after a claim by former head of Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) Commissioner General Susno Duadji.
Susno Duadji also claimed that case brokerage involving the two brigadier generals had taken place in the Police Headquarters. It began during the investigation of a suspicious account of Rp25 billion belonging to Gayus Tambunan.
Susno said that police only investigated Rp395 million of the Rp25 billion while the remaining one disappeared and police stopped investigating it.
The Financial Transactions Analysis and Reporting Center earlier discovered Gayus had a suspicious fund of Rp25 billion in his bank account, and police believed the money was a reward for helping another person evade taxes or actually laundered ill-gotten cash.
Gayus was later prosecuted at a district court in Tangerang (Banten province) near Jakarta. The defendant was charged with tax embezzlement from PT Megah Jaya Citra Germindo which was transferred in two stages worth Rp370 million. The first transfer was worth Rp270 million and the second one was Rp100 million.
The prosecutors had demanded one year jail term and another one year probation for Gayus for the alleged crime. However, judges at the district court acquitted Gayus Tambunan because the embezzlement charges leveled by public prosecutors were not proven.
"The money was not transferred to the state because the defendant did not intend to assist PT Megah Jaya and the company did not come to the tax office," Supreme Court (MA) chairman Arifin Tumpa said on Friday. Therefore, the money stayed in the defendant's account.
In the meantime, the case of a suspicious fund amounting to Rp24.6 billion in his account at Panin Bank which was investigated by police was not taken to court because there was no enough evidence about money laundering, embezzlement and corruption.
But after the investigation was halted, most of the money in Gayus account was transferred elsewhere and only Rp400 million had remained.
Therefore, Susno suspected the disappearance of the money was the result of a mafia practice at the National Police Headquarters which involved high ranking police officers.
As the case is now being investigated by the police, Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said it should be solved immediately so that it would not disturb the bureaucratic reform process now being in progress at the finance ministry.
"The Gayus Tambunan case is a legal problem so that it needs a legal process and a legal action must be taken against him. But it should not halt the bureaucratic reform process," the minister said.
He said that he remained to support the bureaucratic reforms now being carried out jointly by the ministry of finance, the supreme court (MA) and the state audit board (BPK). For this purpose, he hoped that people would judge the matter in accordance with its proportion and would not generalize it.
"We have to be able to sort out a problem and place it in accordance with it proportion," he said.
Jakarta, April 1 (ANTARA) - A police brigadier general is likely to be named a suspect in an alleged Rp25 billion worth of tax evasion and money laundering case that involved Gayus Tambunan, a tax official of the directorate general of taxation.
The possible implication of the police officer was revealed in a meeting on Thursday between National Police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri and the House Commission III on legal affairs.
"(The police chief) disclosed the possibility of a one-star police general being named a suspect in the case. Examinations are moving toward a brigadier general," Bambang Soesatyo of the House Commission III said after the meeting.
Soesatyo who is a Golkar Party politician said the House Commission III was waiting for the promise of the police chief to completely reveal alleged money laundering, corruption and case manipulation by Gayus Tambunan.
The legislator did not mention the name of the brigadier general but adding: "He is a one-star general who is likely a regional police chief.
Previously, former chief detective Commissioner General Susno Duadji said two high-ranking police officers were allegedly involved in money laundering and tax evasion cases worth Rp25 billion with Gayus Tambunan as the main suspect.
Susno who is a former head of the Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) said the two generals were Brig.Gen EI, former director II for special economic affairs of the Bareskrim and Brig. Gen RE, also former director II of the Bareskrim's economic affairs.
At present, EI and RE are undergoing investigation at the National Police's Profession and Security Affairs.
In connection with the examinations of the two high-ranking police officers, Laode Husein of the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) suggested that the two should be suspended to enable smooth investigation.
"They should be suspended temporarily for the sake of smooth examinations," Laode Husein told ANTARA in an SMS text message on Thursday.
Earlier, deputy coordinator of the Indonesian Corruption Watch Emerson Juntho urged Police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri to suspend the two brigadier generals. Emerson said that the suspension of two high-ranking police officers was needed to prevent inconvenience during the investigation.
The alleged involvement of the two generals in the case came up to the surface after a claim by former head of Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) Commissioner General Susno Duadji.
Susno Duadji also claimed that case brokerage involving the two brigadier generals had taken place in the Police Headquarters. It began during the investigation of a suspicious account of Rp25 billion belonging to Gayus Tambunan.
Susno said that police only investigated Rp395 million of the Rp25 billion while the remaining one disappeared and police stopped investigating it.
The Financial Transactions Analysis and Reporting Center earlier discovered Gayus had a suspicious fund of Rp25 billion in his bank account, and police believed the money was a reward for helping another person evade taxes or actually laundered ill-gotten cash.
Gayus was later prosecuted at a district court in Tangerang (Banten province) near Jakarta. The defendant was charged with tax embezzlement from PT Megah Jaya Citra Germindo which was transferred in two stages worth Rp370 million. The first transfer was worth Rp270 million and the second one was Rp100 million.
The prosecutors had demanded one year jail term and another one year probation for Gayus for the alleged crime. However, judges at the district court acquitted Gayus Tambunan because the embezzlement charges leveled by public prosecutors were not proven.
"The money was not transferred to the state because the defendant did not intend to assist PT Megah Jaya and the company did not come to the tax office," Supreme Court (MA) chairman Arifin Tumpa said on Friday. Therefore, the money stayed in the defendant's account.
In the meantime, the case of a suspicious fund amounting to Rp24.6 billion in his account at Panin Bank which was investigated by police was not taken to court because there was no enough evidence about money laundering, embezzlement and corruption.
But after the investigation was halted, most of the money in Gayus account was transferred elsewhere and only Rp400 million had remained.
Therefore, Susno suspected the disappearance of the money was the result of a mafia practice at the National Police Headquarters which involved high ranking police officers.
As the case is now being investigated by the police, Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said it should be solved immediately so that it would not disturb the bureaucratic reform process now being in progress at the finance ministry.
"The Gayus Tambunan case is a legal problem so that it needs a legal process and a legal action must be taken against him. But it should not halt the bureaucratic reform process," the minister said.
He said that he remained to support the bureaucratic reforms now being carried out jointly by the ministry of finance, the supreme court (MA) and the state audit board (BPK). For this purpose, he hoped that people would judge the matter in accordance with its proportion and would not generalize it.
"We have to be able to sort out a problem and place it in accordance with it proportion," he said.
