Jakarta – The National Police on Thursday began reconstructing the flow of illicit money going to Gayus Tambunan, in a move that could lead police to naming businessmen who bribed the rogue taxman to avoid paying taxes.
Police went to three places where Gayus allegedly negotiated and received bribes in cash from middlemen as compensation to help several companies settle their tax problems.
Gayus, accompanied by one of his lawyers, Indra Natan Kusnadi, was also brought by detectives to reconstruct the scene in the three locations: the Menara Peninsula Hotel in West Jakarta, Cempaka Mas Apartment building in Central Jakarta, and Dapur Sunda restaurant in South Jakarta.
"This is an effort to trace where he got the money that we discovered," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said.
The now notorious Gayus, a former low-ranking tax official, is on trial for bribing police, prosecutors and a judge to help him escape graft charges. He testified that he had illegally amassed up to Rp 100 billion (US$11.1 million) from dozens of corporate taxpayers, Rp 25 billion of which he spent to secure an acquittal in his first trial last year.
The police reopened the investigation into Gayus in March, but they have so far not probed the companies that allegedly bribed Gayus, sparking allegations that the police force was still swayed by political power.
The police have frequently defended against the criticism, saying that "Gayus could never remember where he got the money from". However, police documents obtained by The Jakarta Post revealed that Gayus had told detectives when, where, how, and from who he received Rp 28 billion.
Also on Thursday, antigraft activists gathered at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) urging the commission to take over the investigation instead of police.
Among the activists were Transparency International Indonesia secretary-general Teten Masduki, University of Indonesia communications expert Effendi Ghazali, former police general Bambang Widodo Umar, and antigraft researcher Zainal Arifin Muchtar.
The police have frequently defended against the criticism, saying that Gayus could never remember where he got the money from.