Bonded Zone Corruption Case, AGO Examines 3 Customs Witness

ARCHIVES- Three suspects in the alleged corruption case of misuse of bonded zone facilities and the Ease of Import for Export Destinations (KITE) at the Port of Tanjung Priok Tahun and Tanjung Emas Semarang /ANTARA/Laily Rahmawaty

JAKARTA - Investigators of the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) examined 3 witnesses from the Customs and Excise office regarding the alleged corruption case of misuse of bonded area facilities at Tanjung Priok and Tanjung Emas Ports for the 2015-2021 period.

The three witnesses, with the initials MY as Head of the Import Section I at the Customs Technical Directorate, were examined regarding the process of importing goods to the PT HGI Bonded Zone. The second witness, with the initials MNEY as Head of Enforcement Section II of the DJBC Central Java & DIY 2017 Regional Office.

"Witness MNEY is being questioned for information regarding the giving of bribes from suspect LGH to suspect H," said Head of the Indonesian Attorney General's Office for Legal Information Center (Kapuspenkum) Ketut Sumedana in a written statement quoted by Antara, Monday, May 30.

There are also MNEY witnesses who have been examined twice as witnesses, the previous examination was carried out last Thursday (24/3).

Then the third witness with the initials SWE as Head of Investigation Section and BHP I Regional Office of DJBC Central Java & DIY in 2017, was also questioned for his statement regarding the giving of bribes from suspect LGH to suspect H as well as recommendations for re-exporting PT. HGI.

"Witness examination is carried out to strengthen evidence and complete the filing," said Ketut.

Last Monday (23/5), Jampidsus investigators also examined 5 witnesses from the Customs and Excise office.

In this case, investigators have identified 4 suspects, three from the Customs and Excise agency, and one from the private sector.

The four suspects are MRP as the Head of the Investigation and Enforcement Section of the Semarang Customs and Excise Service and Supervision Office (KPPBC) as well as the Customs and Excise PPNS investigator, IP as the Head of the Semarang Customs and Excise Supervision and Service Office (KPPBC), H as the Head of the Intelligence Section. Central Java Regional Customs and Excise Office, and one suspect from the private sector with the initials LGH.

The LGH suspect in this case played a role in having access to textile companies and factories in China and receiving orders for textile raw materials from several domestic buyers.

To import textile raw materials, the suspect LGH uses the PT HGI Bonded Zone facility with the PS Director, and gets exemption from import duties and other taxes on textile imports.

The suspect LGH imported 180 containers of textile raw materials from Tanjung Emas and Tanjung Priok ports from China. Textile raw materials entering the PT HGI Bonded Zone are not produced and are not exported. However, the suspect LGH along with suspect IP, suspect MRP, and suspect H sold the raw materials domestically.

Suspect IP and suspect MRP received a sum of money from suspect LGH, while suspect H received Rp 2 billion from suspect LGH to arrange for the completion of the two-container prevention and ease of re-export.

The suspect was charged with Article 2 Paragraph (1) subsidiary Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Corruption Eradication Law in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) of the 1st Criminal Code.

In addition, investigators also suspect that Article 5 Paragraph (1) letter a is subsidiary to letter b, which is more subsidiary to Article 13 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Corruption Eradication Law in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) 1 of the Criminal Code against LGH. (OL-13)

Separately, the Director of Jampidsus Investigations at the Attorney General's Office, Supardi, said that his party would immediately submit the dossier of the phase I case to the public prosecutor. Meanwhile, his party is still calculating state financial losses in this case.

"The plan is going to phase I immediately, currently we are still calculating state financial losses," said Supardi, in an interview on Wednesday (18/5).

In calculating the state losses incurred in this case, investigators ask for information from economists and state finance experts.

"This is just an examination by an expert on the economy, an expert on state finance. What is clear is that we are still pursuing the examination of witnesses, because we are finalizing the file," said Supardi.