KPK Will Explore The Role Of Company Owners Related To Alleged Bribery In Tax Management

Deputy Chairman of the KPK Alexander Marwata when announcing the detention of two tax consultants PT GMP / DOK HUMAS KPK

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has confirmed that the investigation into alleged bribery in tax management at the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) will not only target consultants. The role of the company owner and the board of directors will be examined.

This was conveyed by the Deputy Chairman of the KPK, Alexander Marwata, after detaining two tax consultants from PT Gunung Madu Plantations (GMP), Aulia Imran Maghribi and Ryan Ahmad Ronas, Thursday, February 17.

"We will see to what extent the company owners intervene in the corporate tax calculation process," Alexander said in a press conference broadcast on the Indonesian KPK YouTube, Thursday, February 17.

The investigator will carry out the deepening of the involvement of the board of directors in the investigation process. "We will see to what extent the company's directors are involved in the calculation process, which has been represented and entrusted by the tax consultant," he said.

"It will be explored in the investigation process," added Alexander.

As previously reported, the KPK detained Aulia Imran Maghribi and Ryan Ahmad Ronas. Both are tax consultants representing PT Gunung Madu Plantations.

The detention of the two was carried out to speed up the process of investigating allegations of bribery in tax administration which had ensnared former officials of the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance.

The officials of the Directorate General of Taxes are the former Director of Audit and Collection at the Directorate General of Taxes, Angin Prayitno; former Head of the Sub-directorate of Audit Cooperation and Support at the Directorate General of Taxes, Dadan Ramdani.

Then the former Supervisor of the Tax Auditor Team at the Directorate of Audit and Collection at the Directorate General of Taxes, Wawan Ridwan; and former Head of the Examination Team at the Directorate of Audit and Collection at the Directorate General of Taxes, Alfred Simanjuntak.

In this case, Aulia and Ryan who are tax consultants from PT Gunung Madu Plantations held a meeting with Wawan Ridwan, Alfred Simanjuntak, and the tax audit team from the Directorate General of Taxes in October 2017. This was done to discuss the findings of tax payments.

From that meeting, Aulia and Ryan asked that PT GMP's tax liability be engineered or lowered. In the process they offered money to Wawan and his team.

The money prepared by Aulia and Ryan reached Rp. 30 billion, of which Wawan Ridwan and his team received Rp. 15 billion. The money came from PT GMP as a fee for tax inspectors and structural officials at the Central Directorate General of Taxes.

After the request was realized, the Rp15 billion money was then handed over in cash in one area in South Jakarta. Furthermore, the receipt was forwarded to Angin Prayitno Aji as Director of Audit and Collection of the Director General of Taxes and Dadan Ramdani as Head of Sub-Directorate of Cooperation and Audit Support of the Director General of Taxes.