Former tax official Gayus Tambunan could face further charges
after National Police confiscated millions of dollars
in additional assets belonging to him.
The National Police are likely to bring additional charges against former tax collector Gayus Tambunan after confiscating millions of dollars in additional assets belonging to him.
“The assets were kept in a safe-deposit box in a bank. We will investigate the source of the money, whether it is from money laundering or somewhere else,” National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso said on Tuesday.
Bambang initially said Rp 60 billion ($6.5 million) had been seized but police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang later said the total value of the seizure could be as much as Rp 74 billion. “It consists of foreign currency, jewelry and bank securities,” he said.
Bambang would not say where the box was banked, but Gayus lawyer Pia Nasution said it was in a PT Bank Mandiri branch in Jakarta. “I do not remember exactly when it was found. If I am not mistaken it was last Thursday or Friday,” she said.
Asked where the money came from, she said: “It was from several companies [handled by Gayus] but I don’t know exactly.”
National Police anticorruption chief Brig. Gen. Yovianes Mahar said Gayus had always received his illicit funds in cash, and never via bank transfer.
Gayus was investigated by police last year after it was discovered that he had Rp 28 billion in his bank accounts, believed to have come from corporate tax dodgers using him to defraud the government. Police have said he had links to 149 companies, with PT Surya Alam Tunggal Sidoarjo, PT Dowell Anadrill Schlumberger, PT Indocement and PT Exelcomindo being investigated in the case.
Tuesday’s announcement, which would seem to triple the loot Gayus had salted away, may not be the end of it. Edward said police were still trying to trace the original Rp 28 billion and had been able to account for only Rp 11 billion. “We are still searching for the rest,” he said.
Former National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, who is detained on corruption charges, has said that Gayus’s fortune could be dramatically higher. “If Gayus had savings of Rp 28 billion, his wealth could be more than Rp 200 billion,” Susno said in a discussion in April in Jakarta while he was free and blowing the whistle on what he called a police conspiracy to let Gayus off the hook.
The taxman, who was acquitted of embezzlement by in March, was rearrested after Susno focused attention on him. He has been charged with corruption and money laundering.
In the ensuing fallout, Gayus, his two lawyers, two police officers, two prosecutors, the presiding judge in the trial, two suspected case brokers and a businessman have been named suspects in the case.
Two high-ranking police officials implicated in the case — Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas, the former director of the National Police economic crimes unit, and his successor, Brig. Gen. Radja Erizman — have not been charged but have since been reassigned in what police have called a “routine” reshuffle of personnel.
On Monday, police said they had handed over to prosecutors dossiers on seven of the suspects linked to the Gayus affair in preparation for trial.
The dossiers are on investigators Comr. Arafat Enanie and Adj. Comr. Sri Sumartini, businessman Andi Kosasih, suspected case brokers Sjahril Djohan and Alief Kuncoro, and lawyers Haposan Hutagalung and Lambertus Palangama.
