Jakarta, March 26 (ANTARA) - Tax official Gayus Tambunan who is wanted by police for alleged tax evasion of Rp25 billion and is a key witness in alleged case brokerage at the police headquarters had fled to Singapore on Wednesday, two days before the Indonesian Police Headquarters requested the immigration office to prevent him from leaving the country.
According to Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar who has reliable information, Gayus Tambunan had left for Singapore last March 24, 2010. "He left for Singapore two days ago, on March 24, 2010," the minister said.
Based on immigration records, Gayus left for Singapore two days before a travel ban was issued on him. The Directorate General of Immigration had received a police request to prevent Gayus from leaving the country only on Friday morning.
"Only this morning did the directorate general of immigration receive the request for his travel ban from the Police Headquarters," Minister Patrialis Akbar said on Friday.
The case of Gayus Tambunan came up to surface recently when former chief of Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) Commissioner General Susno Duadji claimed that case brokerage involving 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, a tax official of the Directorate General of Taxation. 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 has 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 stage 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 not 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.
He claimed that two police brigadier generals had benefited from the disbursement of the funds from the account.
For his claims of case brokers in the police, Susno is now to undergo questioning by his own institution. On Friday he visited the Police's Profession and Security Division (Divpropam) but he rejected the interrogation.
His lawyer Henry Yosodingrat said Susno was not prepared to be questioned because those who would carry out the interrogation did not represent the Police's Ethics Commission. After all, the legal basis for the examination, namely Police Chief Regulation No. 7, 2006 on the Police Organization and Ethics Commission had not yet come into force.
"The examination is unlawful, has to be declared null and void," Susno's lawyer Henry Yosodiningrat said in the written statement.
The Divpropam is investigating Susno on charges of having violated the Police's Ethics and Rules of Professional Conduct, among others his absence from work for 78 days, his allegation of court mafia within the police institution and his mentioning of two police generals as case brokers.
In the meantime, besides pursuing Gayus Tambunan, police also seeking for the arrest of businessman Andi Kosasih (who has surrendered) and Robertus Santonius in the suspicious account of Rp25 billion.
Police Spokesman Insp. Gen Edward Aritonang said the Bareskrim had form a team to investigate them. When Gayus Tambunan was a suspect in the first case, Andi Kosasih took a witness stand and admitted that the Rp25 billion was his money. However, police later have evidence that the money did not belong to Andi.
Police also investigated the disbursement process of the remaining Rp24.6 billion because they believed that it involved unlawful deeds. Police will also examine Robertus Santonius who is suspected to have given a bribe of Rp25 million to Gayus Tambunan.
In an effort to arrerst Gayus Tambunan, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has stated its commitment to helping locate the Indonesian tax official who is believed to have fled to Singapore.
"We heard the news about Gayus possibly having fled to Singapore through the media. At the moment, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, through the Indonesian embassy in Singapore, is trying to verify the truth of the information," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tengku Faizasyah said at a press conference here Friday.
(T.A014/A/HAJM/21:10/.... )
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar