Disgraced tax official Gayus Tambunan said on Tuesday that one of the sources of the extraordinary Rp 28 billion ($3.14 million) found in his bank accounts was energy firm Kaltim Prima Coal, which paid him $500,000 for favorable tax treatment.
Appearing for the first time in court since his March arrest, Gayus was testifying against police officer Sri Sumartini, who is accused of taking bribes from him.
Appearing for the first time in court since his March arrest, Gayus was testifying against police officer Sri Sumartini, who is accused of taking bribes from him.
“I was asked by Alief Kuncoro to help release the tax documents of Kaltim Prima Coal for fiscal years 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005, which were being held by the Gambir tax office. I contacted [fellow tax official Maruli Pandapotan Manurung] and the documents were eventually released. For that service, I was paid $500,000,” said Gayus, testifying at a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court.
Maruli is also a suspect and Alief is a suspected case broker.
Kaltim is part of the Bakrie Group, owned by the family of top politician and business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie.
Circulating copies of Gayus’s purported dossier indicate he had been handling the tax cases of at least 40 companies, including three Bakrie mining firms, including KPC.
But police have refused to confirm that Bakrie companies ever bribed Gayus, and have said they didn’t indend to pursue the allegations.
KPC lawyer Aji Wijaya dismissed Gayus’s allegations.
“Our client never met Gayus, or got in touch with Gayus or gave him money,” adding that KPC had never asked Alief to help with the company’s taxes.
“After my bank accounts were unfrozen, my lawyer Haposan [Hutagalung] asked for the $500,000 to be handed to the investigators,” Gayus testified. “Haposan asked for Rp 20 billion in total to be distributed, [Rp 5 billion] each, among the police investigators, the prosecutors, me and the legal team. But he didn’t mention names.”
“Later, [Haposan] told me some portion of the money was handed to Edmond [Ilyas] and Pambudi [Pamungkas],” said Gayus, referring to the two high-ranking police officers in the investigation.
Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas, was removed from his post as Lampung Police chief in the wake of the Gayus scandal, but police later cleared him of wrongdoing.
Gayus also said the defendant, Sri, attended several of his police questionings and “prepared juice and drinks for me and other investigators.”
“I was once interrogated at a hotel room booked in her name,” he claimed.
