Court verdict on tax evasion sends ripples to Jakarta
Court verdict on tax evasion sends ripples to Jakarta
JAKARTA (JP): Another verdict clearing a businessman of tax
evasion charges in Surabaya, East Java, last weekend has drawn
central government fire, with officials promising a stiff battle
all the way to the Supreme Court.
The Attorney General's office announced yesterday that it will
bypass the higher court in the cases of three businessmen found
not-guilty of tax evasion and go straight to the Supreme Court.
"We'll take the three cases to the Supreme Court and prove
that all the charges are true," Attorney General's spokesman
Soeparman told reporters.
Judge Sarwono, who is under investigation after allegations
that he took bribes from two defendants in tax evasion cases last
month, acquitted a third defendant on Saturday.
Sarwono has denied the accusations and firmly defended his
decisions. The investigation has delayed his promotion to become
chief of the District Court in Medan, North Sumatra.
Sarwono, who presided in all three trials, is currently deputy
chief of the Surabaya district court.
Some of the Surabaya press reports have suggested that the new
Rp 90 million Toyota Corona he's been driving was paid for by the
bribe money.
Director General of Taxes Fuad Bawazier in Jakarta yesterday
expressed his disappointment at the latest decision, stressing
that he was convinced that the three defendants were guilty.
"But I respect the court's decision," Fuad said.
President Soeharto, who rarely comments on court verdicts,
expressed his disappointment with the two earlier cases since
they could affect the current official campaign against tax
evasion. Tax income has become an important source of government
revenue in recent years in place of the dwindling revenues from
oil.
Chief Justice Purwoto Gandasubrata on a separate occasion
promised that the Supreme Court will give priority to the tax
evasion cases because of the controversy surrounding them.
Purwoto however said he was giving the benefit of the doubt to
the judges at this stage.
Similar
"The three cases were said to be similar, so that it would
have been inconsistent to have expected a different verdict for
the third one," he said.
Regarding the allegations that the judges took bribes, Purwoto
said they had not been proven. He expressed regret that the
allegations by East Java chief prosecutor Martoyo were made
without any supporting evidence.
The government has also investigated the public prosecutors
dealing with the cases after one of the defendants' lawyers said
a prosecutor took bribes from his client.
Soeparman said the verdicts of the Surabaya court do not yet
have legal power, since the case will go to the Supreme Court.
The three men are Delip Khumar Gobindram Vasandani, Helmy
Nazar Machfudz and Sugiarto, all businessmen in Surabaya.
They were charged with forging tax returns that entitled them
to restitution for value added taxes. The government had claimed
this resulted in $2.7 million in lost revenue.
The prosecutors have criticized the judges, saying they
disregarded key prosecution evidence. (02/icn/emb)