The Indonesian Attorney General\u2019s Office has revealed the reason for\nexamining a number of employees of the Ministry of Forestry in\nconnection with an alleged transfer pricing corruption case involving PT\nToba Pulp Lestari Tbk. The examination is being conducted to ascertain\nthe legality of the matter. \u201cWhen we talk about wood, where does the raw\nmaterial come from? From the forest. So in this case, the AGO\ninvestigators are ascertaining whether the acquisition of the wood in\nquestion was properly licensed or illegal. If a permit exists, then\nthere is tax. If it is illegal, then it is a criminal offence,\u201d said the\nHead of the AGO Legal Information Centre, Anang Supriatna, to reporters\nat the AGO building in South Jakarta on Wednesday (19\/8\/2026).<\/p>\n
Previously, the AGO examined five individuals, namely BP, TR, FY, DN,\nand RB. Today, the AGO examined four Forestry Ministry employees.\n\u201cYesterday there were five, if I am not mistaken, from Forestry, and\ntoday there are also examinations of Forestry employees, approximately\nfour. So there have been around nine in total,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Anang stated that the AGO has no plans yet to summon the Minister of\nForestry, Raja Juli Antoni. The employees examined so far are Forestry\nMinistry staff at echelon 3 level and below. \u201cOn average, echelon 3 and\nbelow,\u201d said Anang.<\/p>\n
In this case, the AGO has named two employees of the Directorate\nGeneral of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance as suspects. They are BP,\nwho served as supervisor of tax audits for PT TPL for the 2020 and 2023\ntax years, and SR, who served as supervisor for the 2024 tax year audit.\nBoth are suspected of deliberately ignoring audit procedures to conceal\nmanipulation of export reports for pulp commodities carried out by the\ncompany in order to reduce its tax burden.<\/p>\n
The Director of Investigation at the AGO\u2019s Junior Attorney General\nfor Special Crimes, Saiful Bahri Siregar, revealed that the main modus\noperandi in this case is under-invoicing, or reporting selling prices\nfar below their actual value. PT TPL allegedly reported its export\nproducts as paper grade pulp or Bleached Hardwood Kraft Pulp, when the\nproducts actually shipped were dissolving pulp, which has a much higher\nselling value.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe facts obtained show that PT TPL, which operates in the pulp\nprocessing and forestry industry, has since 2008 carried out export\nsales of pulp to its affiliates by means of under-invoicing, reporting\nat the export stage from Indonesia as paper grade pulp or bleached\nhardwood kraft pulp,\u201d said Saiful Bahri at a press conference at the\nAGO\u2019s Round Building in South Jakarta on Thursday (12\/8).<\/p>\n
Saiful explained that the manipulation of the harmonised system codes\nwas carried out systematically. As a result of this manipulation, the\ntax paid by PT TPL to the state was drastically reduced from what it\nshould have been. \u201cIn order to reduce the value of PT TPL\u2019s products\nfrom their actual value, PT TPL unlawfully, from the 2018-2025 period,\nreported sales of pulp products as products they were not to PT Asia\nPacific Rayon or its affiliated companies,\u201d Saiful explained.<\/p>\n
The investigation revealed that PT TPL routinely provided sums of\nmoney to the two tax officials each year. The bribes were intended to\nalter the tax calculation patterns so that the export price manipulation\nwould not be detected.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/attorney-generals-office-reveals-reason-for-examining-forestry-ministry-employees-over-pulp-export-1787151229", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }