Golkar Explores Source Of Rumors Airlangga-Luhut Enters Pandora Papers

Golkar Party Secretary General Lodewijk F. Paulus (Nailin In Saroh/VOI)

JAKARTA - Secretary General of the Golkar Party Lodewijk F. Paulus will search for information on the Pandora Papers that mention the names of Airlangga Hartarto and Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

According to him, this information does not have a clear source. In fact, after being searched in foreign media, no clear source was found.

"I don't know, I don't know yet. But we, if we read on social media, he said, the source is also not clear. But indeed there is one national print media that has conveyed this," he said at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Tuesday, October 5.

"But we're trying to find out where it came from, we don't know yet. Of course the team from Golkar will continue to monitor this problem," he added.

Lodewijk admits that the information is not good for the current conditions, where Indonesia is concentrating on the implementation of the PON in Papua.

"Yes, we will continue to study, yes, it was a rumor too, not good for us. While we are concentrating on PON, (HUT) TNI, then there are issues like that. Hopefully there will be clarity," he said.

In recent weeks, the public has been shocked by the secret deals and hidden assets of some of the world's richest and most powerful people revealed in datasets. The act of leaking data is called the Pandora Papers.

The Pandora Papers are the result of an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists or ICIJ. The investigation involved more than 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries. The investigation is based on the leak of confidential data from 14 offshore companies that regulate shell companies in tax havens.

Thus, they can avoid the obligation to pay taxes. There are 11.9 million files from various offshore companies that have wealthy clients from various backgrounds.

The Pandora Papers also expose the confidential foreign affairs of 35 world leaders, including the affairs of incumbent presidents, former presidents, prime ministers (PM), and other heads of state. The Pandora Papers also highlight the secret finances of more than 300 other public officials, such as government ministers, judges, mayors and military generals in more than 90 countries.

In addition, the Pandora Papers also mentioned the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. Luhut is said to be related to a Panamanian company, namely Petrocapital SA

According to Luhut's spokesman, Jodi Mahardi, Petrocapital SA is a company established under the laws of Panama. The company was founded in 2006 by Edgardo E.Dia and Fernando A.Gil.

One of Petrocapital SA's business fields is oil and gas, with a paid-up capital of five million US dollars. Luhut, admitted that Jodi had served in the company.

Meanwhile, Airlangga is said to have established a shell company as an investment vehicle and to manage trust funds and insurance. Airlangga's shell companies include Buckley Development Corporation and Smart Property Holdings Limited.

Both companies are located in the British Virgin Islands, a tax-exempt jurisdiction in the Caribbean. Buckley Development is highlighted in red in the Pandora Papers. The company must complete information on the number and value of assets owned and the purpose for which the company was founded.

Based on the attachment to the electronic document dated October 2016, a Trident staff member said that the red-labeled company had closed its stall. Airlangga refused to say he intended to disburse the insurance policy through Buckley Development and Smart Property.

Airlangga also admitted that he did not know the establishment of the two companies. "There was no such transaction," said Airlangga, in a special interview with Tempo, last August.