Alleged corruption suspect Gayus Tambunan returning home after fleeing to Singapore.National Police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri says
at least one senior officer has also been implicated in tax fraud
A senior member of the National Police was likely to be named a suspect in the increasingly tangled tax evasion and money laundering case alleged to have been committed by rogue tax official Gayus Tambunan, a legislator from the House of Representatives says.
The possible charges against the officer was revealed during a meeting on Thursday between National Police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri and the House Commission III for law and legislation.
“[The police chief] disclosed the possibility of a one-star police general being named a suspect in the case,” Golkar lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said after the meeting. “Examinations are moving toward a brigadier general.”
Soesatyo said the commission expected Bambang to keep his promise for a thorough and transparent investigation of all aspects of the case involving Gayus, who returned to Jakarta on Wednesday after fleeing to Singapore.
Though Soesatyo did not identify the officer, renegade former chief detective Commissioner General Susno Duadji has implicated two high-ranking officers.
Susno said the generals were Brig. Gen. EI, the former director II for special economic affairs at National Police headquarters and Brig. Gen. RE, another former director of the same department.
The pair have previously been identified as Lampung Police Chief Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas and Brig. Gen. Radja Erisman. They are currently being questioned by National Police.
Laode Husein of the National Police Commission said the officers should be suspended to enable a smooth investigation, a call echoed by Indonesian Corruption Watch.
Susno was the first to implicate the generals in case brokering. The claims, initially furiously denied by National Police headquarters who named Susno as a suspect for defamation, arose after Gayus was acquitted of embezzlement when the Financial Transactions Report and Analysis Center (PPATK) discovered Rp 25 billion ($2.75 million) in his bank accounts.
The case implicates the Attorney General’s Office, National Police and the Tangerang District Court, as well the Directorate General of Taxation and a number of companies.
Soesatyo, still speaking after Commission III’s meeting with the National Police chief on Thursday, said 149 companies had been identified as being involved with Gayus.
“This is relevant to Gayus, and some of them are covered by Gayus’s bank account,” Soesatyo said.
