KPK Summons 2 Private Parties Regarding The Case Of Alleged Bribery At The Directorate General Of Taxes, Ministry Of Finance

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) continues to investigate allegations of corruption at the Directorate General of Taxes, Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) in 2016-2017. This time, investigators summoned two private parties to be examined as witnesses to complete the file belonging to suspect Wawan Ridwan.

Wawan, the former Bantaeng Tax Head, became a suspect when he served as Supervisor of the Tax Auditor Team.

"The investigative team has an agenda for summoning witnesses for suspect WR," said Acting Spokesperson for the KPK for Enforcement, Ali Fikri, to reporters, Monday, December 13.

Ali said that the two witnesses from the private sector who were summoned by investigators were Teh Choo Pong and Adiputra Sejati. However, he did not specify what will be explored from the two.

However, both are considered to have knowledge of the alleged bribery at the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance. So, it is hoped that their presence and information will shed light on the case.

Previously, the KPK arrested and detained the former Bantaeng Tax Head, Wawan Ridwan, who is a new suspect in the tax bribery case at the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance. This action was taken because he was considered uncooperative.

Wawan was named a suspect along with the former Head of the Examining Team at the Directorate of Audit and Collection at the Directorate General of Taxes, Alfred Simanjuntak. This determination has been made since the beginning of last November.

In this case, it was revealed that Wawan received the money which was then handed over to two officials at the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance, namely Angin Prayitno and Dadan Ramdani, who had previously been named suspects.

The receipt of this money occurred several times in the period 2018-2019. In January-February 2018, Wawan received Rp15 billion which was handed over by representatives of PT Gunung Madu Plantation.

Then, Wawan again received the money around mid-2018. The amount of money he received reached 500 thousand Singapore dollars which was handed over by representatives of PT Bank PAN Indonesia from a total commitment of Rp. 25 billion.

Next, he again received money in July-September 2019 with a value of up to 3 million Singapore dollars which was handed over from representatives of PT Jhonlin Baratama. Of the total receipts, Wawan was later said to have received a share of 625 thousand Singapore dollars.

Not only that, Wawan is also suspected of receiving money from other taxpayers as a form of gratification. However, the KPK has not detailed the amount of money because it is still being investigated.