Former DG Tax Officer Becomes Bribe Receiver Suspect, Ministry Of Finance: We Do Not Tolerate!

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) admits that he is concerned and sorry about the case involving the former Director of Audit and Collection at the Directorate General of Tax, Angin Prayitno Aji. Angin Prayitno was named a suspect in accepting bribes related to tax audits.

The Ministry of Finance emphasized that it would not tolerate similar acts in the future.

"We are very concerned about and regret the case of the alleged acceptance of bribes involving unscrupulous employees of the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) as the results of the KPK investigation that have just been submitted. The Ministry of Finance does not tolerate actions like this which betray the struggle for improvement that we are currently doing and are continuing to do," said the Inspector. General Ministry of Finance Sumiyati during a press conference at the KPK's Red and White House, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Tuesday, May 4.

He said, the Ministry of Finance will continue to improve governance and improve services to the community. Thus, the community can exercise their rights and obligations in a better, accountable and transparent manner.

Even so, Sumiyati still asked for the participation of the community to create a clean and integrity Ministry of Finance. "We urge taxpayers and all people to comply with taxes and not offer compensation in any form related to fulfilling tax obligations to employees of the Directorate General of Taxes," he said.

Sumiyati emphasized that people who find people at the Directorate General of Taxation promise to facilitate tax management in exchange for being able to report them to the Whistleblowing system of the Ministry of Finance.

"If there is an employee of the Directorate General of Taxes who promises convenience related to fulfilling tax obligations in return, report it immediately," he said.

In the tax administration bribery case at the Directorate General of Taxes, the KPK named two officials as suspects. They are the Director of Audit and Collection at the 2016-2019 Directorate General of Taxes, Angin Prayitno Aji and the Head of the Sub-Directorate for Cooperation and Audit Support at the Directorate General of Taxes Dadan Ramdani.

In addition, the KPK also named four other suspects in the alleged bribery. They are three tax consultants, namely Ryan Ahmad Ronas, Aulia Imran Maghribi, and Agus Susetyo as well as a taxpayer attorney, Veronika Lindawati.

The determination of the suspect was made after the KPK conducted an examination of 30 witnesses who were suspected of knowing the suspects' actions.

In this case, Angin together with Dadan are suspected of receiving money three times in 2018-2019. In January-February 2018, there was a receipt of Rp. 15 billion in cash which was submitted by representatives of PT GMP, namely Ryan Ahmad and Aulia Imran.

Furthermore, receipts were also made in mid-2018 in the amount of 500 thousand Singapore dollars submitted by Veronika Lindawati as a representative of PT BPI. This figure is part of the agreed commitment of IDR 25 billion.

The last money received took place in July-September 2019. This money was received from the representative of PT Jhonlin Baratama, namely Agung Susetyo worth 3 million Singapore dollars.