Mar'ie vows to fight fake exports

Mar'ie vows to fight fake exports

JAKARTA (JP): The government will take strict measures against
exporters found guilty of falsifying exports as a means of
profiting from export facilities, Minister of Finance Mar'ie
Muhammad says.

"We are scrutinizing companies suspected of getting involved
in reporting fake exports to accrue benefits from export
facilities and we will make a public announcement as soon as we
finish," he announced yesterday.

"And you should know, the government will never compromise
with exporters or officials who are found to be involved in
malfeasance or irregularities," he said.

"Give me a few days, please, and we will unveil the result of
the scrutiny," said Mar'ie, who appeared preoccupied with the
problems caused by the bad debts of textile manufacturer PT
Kanindo Success Textile.

M. Tjoek Soeroso, head of the Ministry of Finance's Agency for
Export Facilities and Financial Data Analyses (Bapeksta), told
reporters on Thursday that the ministry had found indications
that certain export documents had been tampered with.

"At least 15 exporters are now under examination by our
agency," he said. "One of the alleged exporters is PT Detta
Marina (DM) which likely made 'fictitious' reports on exports to
Singapore."

According to Tjoek, the agency has found that almost all of
the 15 exporters examined have defects in their financial and
administrative reports.

"Their reports have no clear dates on imports of raw
materials, no details on the processing of the materials and
sometimes no reliable information on the export destinations," he
explained.

"Such bad administrative performance clearly indicates that
exporters may hide any irregularities in their business, although
they are not always justified," he argued.

Through a series of deregulatory measures introduced over the
past few years, the government allows exporters to receive duties
and value added tax that they have paid for the imports of raw
materials as soon as they export the products.

By filing fake reports on exports, exporters can make money by
receiving import duties and value added tax that is not
rightfully theirs.

However, Mar'ie said yesterday that "if government officials
are involved in the export document manipulation, people should
not soon come to the conclusion that the government's supervisory
management is poor."

Detta Marina

Tjoek also expressed concern that Detta Marina, whose
executive reportedly wants to take over the debt-ridden textile
business of Robby Tjahjadi, a former luxury car smuggler turned
businessman, has tried to manipulate export documents.

"We are still awaiting final examinations on Detta Marina's
export activities," he said. "Its documents show that the company
exported 41,280 jackets on April 19 by using the Apollo ship
through Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta," he added.

But according to administrative authorities at Tanjung Priok,
the Apollo did not berth at the port on April 19, Tjoek said.

He said that Detta Marina as of last December stopped using
the services of Bapeksta and, instead began using the export
facility offered by the Directorate General of Customs and Excise
to exporters operating at ports of entry.

By using the latter facility, exporters need only one week to
regain import duties, as compared to the two weeks offered by
Bapeksta. (fhp)