GAYUS`S FORMER `CLIENTS` LIABLE TO PROSECUTION FOR BRIBERY, GRATIFICATION

Jakarta, Apr 16 (ANTARA) - Tax payers who made use of rogue tax officer Gayus Tambunan's "services" are liable to prosecution for bribery or gratification, a senior Attorney General's Office (AGO) member said.

"They can be charged based on penal articles on bribery or gratification," Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes Marwan Effendy said here on Friday.

Gayus who is in police custody as a suspect in corruption and money laundering cases was found to have a bank account of Rp24.5 billion, money believed to have come from taxpayers he had helped evade taxes or get tax reductions. Their number was reported to be more weLL over one hundred.

Marwan said the AGO was now studying the cases of taxpayers Gayus had handled as a staffer at the directorate general of taxes.

"It appears some of these cases are already being handled by the independent investigation team set up by the National Police Headquarters," he said.

Howver, the AGO had yet to receive formal notification from the police about the fact they had begun investigating the taxpayer cases which police were required to give under standing procedural rules, Marwan added.

About Gayus's case itself, Marawn said the AGO had already received the police's formal notification on their investigation into the matter, and into the cases of five other persons linked to Gayus's case. The five persons included police officers, lawyers and case brokers.

"So, we at the AGO, have now received police notifications on the cases of Gayus and five of his accomplices," Marwan said.