In A Duplicate Of The Tax Value Management Bribery Trial, Angin Prayitno's Lawyer Cited Prosecutors Distorting The Facts

Illustration of the suspect, former Director of Audit and Collection at the Directorate General of Taxes, Ministry of Finance, Angin Prayitno Aji (Photo: M Risyal Hidayat/Antara)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Court (Tipikor) at the Central Jakarta District Court held a follow-up trial in the alleged bribery case of tax management with the accused, a former official of the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) Angin Prayitno Aji.

In a trial with a duplicate reading agenda, the defendant Angin Prayitno Aji through his attorney, Syaefullah Hamid stated that the public prosecutor (JPU) distorted the facts.

"The Replic of the public prosecutor only repeats what the Public Prosecutor has stated in the Indictment and Letter of Indictment, even though there are distortions of facts," Syaefullah said in court, Thursday, January 27.

According to Syaefullah, the prosecutor did not tell the truth because he stated that the print out of the transaction data of the Dollarasia Kelapa Gading customer came from the results of a search at the Dollarasia Office in the case of the suspects Wawan Ridwan and Alfred Simanjuntak.

In addition, the prosecutor's statement was considered heretical because based on the evidence in the Confiscation Minutes (BAP) and the receipt of evidence, it was explained that transaction data for exchanging IDR 3.049 billion into US dollars had been confiscated in the Angin Prayitno case.

"Then where did the Public Prosecutor's essay come from which stated that the transaction data were found in the case of Wawan Ridwan and Alfred Simanjuntak?" he said.

Not only that, Angin Prayitno also stated that the prosecutor had failed to prove that Yulmanizar alias Deden Suhendar had exchanged IDR 13.8 billion into Singapore dollars.

Because, in the indictment, the prosecutor explained that the proceeds from the exchange in Singapore dollars were forwarded to Dadan Ramdani and partly to Angin Prayitno. Moreover, in the trial the prosecutor's replik agenda actually submitted other evidence in the form of exchanging rupiah money into US dollars amounting to Rp3,049 billion to 227,100 US dollars.

Thus, the evidence is deemed unable to prove the receipt of 750 thousand Singapore dollars as charged to Angin Prayitno.

"If the Public Prosecutor considers the exchange of IDR 3,049 billion to US$ 227,100 as part of the alleged criminal act, then the Public Prosecutor denies his own indictment and demands and implicitly admits his indictment is not proven," said Syaefullah.

Then, Syaefullah emphasized that the prosecutor also failed to prove that Veronika Lindawati had bribed Bank Panin against her client.

Where, had questioned Veronika's arrival on October 15, 2018 and linked it to the initial finding of Rp900 billion that was negotiated. So, it is suspected that the prosecutor wanted to declare Veronika's previous arrival on July 24, 2018 to negotiate the tax value from Rp. 900 billion to Rp. 300 billion.

"But the legal facts prove that Veronika Lindawati visited the DGT on July 24 2018, the day after the SPHP was stipulated on July 23, 2018. The tax value in the SPHP was Rp. 303 billion and even increased to Rp. 307 billion when the SKP was issued," said Syaefullah. .

"This is where the Public Prosecutor's logical fallacy is in parsing this case. In its replica, the Public Prosecutor did not discuss the meeting on July 24, 2018," he continued.

With these reasons, Syaefullah asked the panel of judges to reject the prosecutor's replica of his client. Because, everything is only based on assumptions and imagination alone.

In addition, the panel of judges was also asked to make a decision stating that Angin Prayitno was not legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing a criminal act of corruption together as stated in Article 11 and Article 12 letter A of the Anti-Corruption Law.

"Freeing defendant I Angin Prayitno Aji from all charges or at least releasing him from all legal charges," said Syaefullah.

For information, the public prosecutor (JPU) at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) demanded a former official of the Directorate General of Taxes (Directorate General) of the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) Angin Prayitno Aji with a sentence of 9 years in prison. Then, the prosecutor also demanded that Angin with a fine of Rp. 500 million, subsidiary of 6 months in prison.