Customs Bribery Trial: Former Official Admits to Existence of Unaccountable Funds

Former Head of Customs and Excise Intelligence, Sisprian Subiaksono, has revealed the practice of managing unofficial funds within the Directorate General of Customs and Excise. Sisprian made this statement while testifying at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Wednesday (10/6) in a suspected bribery case involving defendant John Field, the owner of PT Blueray. In his testimony, Sisprian explained that his agency had special funds outside the official budget, referred to as operational funds. He acknowledged that these funds were used for purposes requiring swift handling. ‘We use the operational funds in special, urgent conditions that require speed,’ Sisprian told the court. Sisprian openly explained the difference between official state funds and these operational funds. According to him, these operational funds are illegal because they cannot be administratively reported to the state. ‘There are official DOK PPN funds and there are operational funds that actually cannot be accounted for,’ he stressed. Regarding the source of the money, Sisprian disclosed that the funds originated from the remaining state budget, or DIPA. Leftover official travel money or surplus activity budgets were deliberately diverted into a secret cash fund. ‘Initially, it came from DIPA funds in the form of DOK PPN and SPPD. If there were funds that could not yet be accounted for or were accounted for as a surplus, we shifted them to the operational fund. That is how it started,’ Sisprian revealed. Sisprian also explained that he had instructed his subordinates not to keep these funds inside the office. This was done to avoid inspection and search by law enforcement officers, which could happen at any time. ‘I said that unaccountable funds should not be in the office,’ he stated. Sisprian added that the order to hide the money in a safe place arose from concerns about spot inspections and searches. He said his agency had experience of being searched by various legal institutions. ‘I said that our rooms are frequently searched, so do not leave any funds that cannot be accounted for according to DIPA in this room,’ Sisprian continued. He confirmed that his office had been searched by the Attorney General’s Office and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). In this case, John Field, as the owner of PT Blueray Cargo, together with Import Document Team Head Andri and Operational Manager Dedy Kurniawan, are accused of paying bribes to a number of officials within the Directorate General of Customs and Excise amounting to Rp63.1 billion. Besides Sisprian, the case has also implicated several other customs officials as bribery suspects.