Proven Corruption, Two Former Employees Of The Directorate General Of Taxes Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison

The trial for the verdict of the bribery case for the environmental tax audit of the Directorate General (Ditjen) of the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) at the Jakarta Corruption Court, Monday (3/5/2024). (ANTARA/Agatha Olivia Victoria)

JAKARTA - Two former tax employees, Febrian and Yulmanizar were sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of Rp. 200 million, subsidiary to two months in prison, related to the bribery case for tax audits within the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu).

"Declaring that the defendants are legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing a criminal act of corruption together as in the cumulative indictment of the first and second alternatives to the public prosecutor," said Chief Judge Fahzal Hendri in a trial reading the verdict of the Panel of Judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor), reported by ANTARA, Monday, June 3.

The two defendants were proven to have violated Article 12Bjuncto Article 18 of Law (UU) Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes jo. Article 55 paragraph (1) 1st of the Criminal Code jo. Article 65 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.

In addition to imprisonment and fines, the Panel of Judges also imposed additional penalties in the form of paying compensation to Febrian amounting to Rp7.01 billion and Yulmanizar amounting to Rp8.43 billion, subsidiary to one year in prison.

The replacement money payment, continued Fahzal, was reduced by the defendant's assets in the form of apartments, precious gold metals, and cash that had been deposited into the account of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

He said there were several things that incriminated the verdicts of the two defendants, namely that the defendant did not assist the government's program in eradicating corruption and the defendant was charged with two articles of the indictment.

Meanwhile, several things that ease the sentence, he continued, include the defendant admitting his guilt and apologizing, being polite in the trial, the defendant being designated as a justice collaborator or a witness who is the perpetrator who cooperates with law enforcement officers in uncovering a certain crime, and the defendant is the head of the household.

"After considering aggravating and mitigating matters, the Panel of Judges is of the opinion that the punishment or punishment imposed on the defendant may have fulfilled a sense of justice and benefit the defendants and the community," said Hakim.

Based on this decision, the two defendants and the Public Prosecutor of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) stated that they were thinking about it first.

Previously, the former Functional Audit of Taxes First Directorate of Inspection of the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance Febrian and the former Functional Audit of Junior Taxes of the Directorate of Audit and Collection of the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance Yulmanizar were charged with 4 years and 4.5 years in prison and a fine of Rp. 200 million, subsidiary to four months in prison.

Both were charged with accepting bribes worth Rp. 17.9 billion related to 2016 and 2017 tax audits for the company PT Gunung Madu Plantations, PT Bank Panin, and PT Jhonlin Baratama.

The receipt of bribes was carried out together with former Intermediate Tax Auditor Directorate General of Taxes Alfred Simanjuntak and Wawan Ridwan; former Head of Sub-Directorate for Cooperation and Audit Support of the Directorate General of Taxes Dadan Ramdani; and former Director of P2 Directorate General of Taxes Angin Prayitno Aji in the period January 2018 to September 2019. Alfred, Wawan, Dadan, and Angin have been convicted.