Ridwan Max Sijabat and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The House of Representatives set up a working committee to investigate the case of Gayus H. Tambunan, a former tax official facing charges of helping firms evade taxes, and his ties to an alleged tax and court graft ring.
The chairman of the House's Commission III on legal affairs, Benny K. Harman, said the working committee would start working next week and would question at least three main figures in the case: Gayus, National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo and Gayus' lawyer, Adnan Buyung Nasution.
"The working committee's main mission is to establish plausible reasons and political hurdles into why police submitted a weak indictment against Gayus, and why the tax manipulation ring can't be brought to court," he said on Thursday.
The weak indictment and prosecution of Gayus have led to fierce criticism from the public, with police failing to identify those involved in the tax mafia or to trace the flow of funds to Gayus from 49 large companies that bribed him to lower their taxes.
Gayus is being tried at the South Jakarta District Court on graft charges. He also faces other charges of forging documents and bribery.
His case has exploded into a complex web, with police now investigating his recent illicit trips to Bali, Malaysia, Singapore and Macau and attempting to identify how he received a passport while supposedly behind bars.
However, legislators expressed their skepticism about the effectiveness of the committee.
Pieter Zulkifli from the Democratic Party said the committee "will likely be a forum of political negotiations among parties and will never go into its main substance. We have proposed the formation of an inquiry committee but it was strongly opposed".
Eva Sundari of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Achmad Yani of the United Development Party (PPP) and Syarifuddin of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) also said the working committee would look deeper into the issue because "it wants to protect the interests of certain businesspeople and foreign corporations".
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said it would soon summon Gayus for questioning. KPK chairman Busyro Muqoddas said commission leaders had agreed to question Gayus, but did not specify a date.
Busyro also hinted that the KPK would also question the companies that allegedly bribed Gayus.
Also on Thursday, Gayus' lawyer Buyung met with KPK leaders. "I was invited to work [with them] on my client's corruption case. It's good to hear the KPK will also investigate the case. The probe carried out by the police has been unprofessional, leaving many of those pulling the strings untouched," Buyung said.
Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) chairman Yunus Husein said Gayus "has put some of his assets in a neighboring country".
Yunus added that the PPATK had sought information from authorities in Singapore, Malaysia and Macau. "We are prepared to work with those states in order to find evidence [on Gayus' assets]."