Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – A businessman and a lawyer are the latest to be convicted for their roles in the bribery scandal involving rogue tax official Gayus Tambunan.
Andi Kosasih, a businessman from South Sulawesi, was on Monday convicted by the South Jakarta District Court on one count each of corruption and money-laundering, and was handed a six-year sentence. His accomplice, attorney Lambertus Palang Ama, received a three-year term.
Andi's is the heaviest sentence thus far in the scandal, in which at least 10 people have been tried or are standing trial, including Gayus.
The court ruled that Andi broke the law when he made a false agreement with Gayus to make it appear as though he had entrusted $2.8 million to the taxman to buy land and build a shop in Jakarta. The bogus deal was made in August 2009, around the same time Gayus was being investigated for having roughly the same amount in his bank accounts.
Judge Prasetyo Ibnu Asmara ruled that the agreement had been doctored with an earlier date of May 26, 2008, with both Gayus and Andi signing receipts to support their claim.
That ruse, the judge said, led the police to lift a freeze on Gayus's suspicious accounts. Around five months after the deal was made, Gayus was acquitted of all charges by the Tangerang District Court in March.
Prasetyo also fined Andi Rp 4 billion ($400,00), adding that failure to pay would see him serve an extra four months behind bars. The sentence was lighter than the prosecutors' demand of 10 years' imprisonment and Rp 6 billion in fines.
The judge said mitigating factors were that this was Andi's first conviction and that he had willingly admitted to the crime. Andi being the sole breadwinner for his family was another consideration.
Andi was defiant upon hearing the verdict. "I will appeal until the end," he said. "Those who have tyrannized me will pay for this." He declined to identify whom he was referring to.
Meanwhile, lawyer Lambertus was sentenced to three years for drafting the bogus agreement between Prasetyo and Gayus. Sunardi also fined him Rp 150 million, with failure to pay punishable by an additional month in prison. The sentence fell short of the five-year term demanded by prosecutors.
Monday's convictions bring to six the number of those jailed in the fallout from revelations that Gayus had allegedly amassed a fortune in bribes from corporate taxpayers and had bought his acquittal at the Tangerang Court.
Those convicted were Arafat Enanie and Sri Sumartini, the police investigators found to have taken kickbacks to tone down the list of charges against Gayus and Muhtadi Asnun, the presiding judge in the Tangerang trial. Alif Kuncoro, a middleman who bribed the investigators to leave him out of the case, was another. All four have been sentenced to between 18 months and five years in prison.
Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, who blew the lid on the case, is standing trial for allegedly taking a bribe from former diplomat Sjahril Djohan as well as for embezzling regional funds while still chief of the West Java Police. Djohan himself was found guilty of bribing Susno, the former National Police chief of detectives.
Gayus is standing trial for purportedly bribing law enforcers and for abusing his authority to help companies evade taxes. He may also face charges for buying his way out a police jail cell.