Tobacco Entrepreneur from Madura Haji Her Visited the KPK Regarding the Customs Case

Madura-based tobacco entrepreneur H Khairul Umam or Haji Her visited the KPK's Red and White building, South Jakarta, on Thursday, April 9. (Tsa Tsia-VOI)

JAKARTA - A tobacco entrepreneur from Madura, H Khairul Umam or Haji Her, visited the KPK Red and White building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta today, April 9. He admitted that he took the initiative to attend because he could not attend the previous summons as a witness to the case of bribery and gratification of the import of goods at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise.

"So my own initiative came (to the KPK office, ed)," Haji Her told reporters at the location, Thursday, April 9.

Haji Her admitted that he should have been examined on Wednesday, April 1 as a witness. But, the new summons letter came in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, when asked about the examination material that would be investigated by investigators, he did not want to say much. He only agreed to be examined regarding the case at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise.

"He said yes," he said briefly.

Meanwhile, KPK Chairman Setyo Budiyanto emphasized that his party was right to call H Khairul Umam or Haji Her, who is a tobacco entrepreneur from Madura, last week. The summons is related to allegations of bribes and gratification for the import of goods at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise.

This was conveyed by Setyo to clarify that Haji Her had never been summoned by his agency. He said that a summons letter had been sent but the tobacco entrepreneur did not attend at the scheduled time.

"Yes, it is true that there has been a call, but if the call does not come or the person concerned is not present," Setyo told reporters at the KPK's Red and White building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, quoted on Wednesday, April 8.

In the future, Setyo said, Haji Her has the opportunity to be called again. However, he has not confirmed further because the decision will be made according to the needs of the investigators.

"Of course there are considerations from investigators, whether then a re-call will be made, scheduled again. We just have to wait," said Setyo, who also served as the KPK's Director of Investigation.

The KPK previously suspected that there were cigarette manufacturers who gave bribes to the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) to circumvent taxes from the Java Island region. The findings were revealed after Budiman Bayu Prasojo as Head of the P2 Tax Intelligence Section of the DJBC was named a suspect and detained on Friday, February 27.

This determination is an expansion of the hand-in-hand operation (OTT) on February 4. At that time, six suspects were announced, one of which was the Director of Enforcement and Investigation of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (P2 DJBC) for the period 2024-2026, Rizal.

Then, it was also determined as a suspect, namely Sisprian Subiaksono (SIS) as Head of the Sub Directorate of Intelligence, Enforcement and Investigation of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (Kasubdit Intel P2 DJBC); Orlando Hamonangan (ORL) as Head of the Intelligence Section of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (Kasi Intel DJBC); John Field (JF) as owner of PT Blueray (BR); Andri as Head of the Import Documents Team of PT BR; and Dedy Kurniawan as Operational Manager of PT BR.

"Currently, some of them are from Central Java and there are also East Java," said KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo to reporters at the KPK Red and White building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Monday, March 2.

These cigarette entrepreneurs are suspected of buying tax tape at a lower rate in large quantities. In fact, there is a difference in tariffs for the results of manual home industry products and using machines.