Former customs and excise official nabbed in graft scam
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Police has detained former Merak Customs and Excise officer Marwan since Thursday for his alleged involvement in an Rp 153 billion (US$18 million) tax and import duty evasion scam.
"He has been declared a suspect in the scandal," Brig. Gen. Soenarko Ardan, National Police deputy chief of public relations, said on Saturday.
The one-star general said the scandal began when PT Sunless Pipe Indonesian Java (SPIJ) imported pipes from Argentina three years ago. Marwan helped PT SPIJ avoid paying taxes and import duty by falsifying the value of the imported goods at less than their actual value, he said.
PT SPIJ is a foreign investment company in Serang, Banten province, whose core business is importing and manufacturing pipes.
Soenarko said detectives investigated the case for three years and only recently found enough evidence showing that the suspect had forged tax documents and received a payoff from PT SPIJ during his term. He did not say how much Marwan had received from the company.
Marwan's term at the customs and excise office ended last year.
The crime caused Rp 153 billion in losses to the state.
Soenarko said police were continuing their investigation into the case and expected to nab more suspects soon.
Police plan to interrogate additional witnesses from PT SPIJ and the Merak Customs and Excise Office.
"Marwan's arrest is just the beginning. We believe that he is not the only person who was involved in the scam, and that it must have also involved people from the company," he said.
The police were already eyeing several possible suspects, but Soenarko declined to reveal their identities.
The arrest of a customs and excise official has rarely been made, although the government institution is one of the most corrupt in the country as was indicated in an October 2001 survey conducted by the Partnership for Governance Reform.
No explanations were given by the police on the issue, although the country has suffered great losses from irregularities at the office.
Last April, the Post reported that loss of state revenue due to unpaid customs duties and import taxes stood at Rp 8 trillion annually.