Police aim low in immigration graft probe

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After a yearlong investigation into the embezzlement of billions of rupiah in departure tax from Soekarno-Hatta airport, the Jakarta Police have little to show for their efforts in terms of high-profile arrests.

Police detained five tax and immigration officials over the weekend, but released three of the officials on Tuesday.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said three of the officials had been released because of a lack of evidence.

Now the police seem to be focusing their attentions on the go- betweens and labor exporting firms believed to have helped the officials embezzle the funds.

"We have submitted the case files of two officials and a go- between to the Tangerang Prosecutor's Office. We had to release the other three officials because we did not have enough evidence to detain them. We will expand our investigation to look into more go-betweens," Ketut told The Jakarta Post.

The police announced on Monday that after an investigation that lasted for more than a year, they had arrested three immigration officials, two tax officials and several go-betweens suspected of involvement in the embezzlement of billions of rupiah in departure tax over the last several years.

Police identified the immigration and tax officials only by their initials and age: AL, 40; AS, 28; H, 41; AP, 28; and BZ, 20.

The go-betweens were identified as MT, 45; HMA, 40; AK, 20; NGL, 32; and AF, 30. Ketut said they were arrested based on information officers gathered from the detained officials.

A detective close to the investigation said police were also looking into the owners of several labor exporting firms suspected of not paying the full departure tax when they sent migrant workers abroad.

He said the owner of one labor exporting firm in Tangerang had sent about 200,000 workers abroad over the last several years without paying the full departure tax.

The detective said the owner colluded with several immigration and tax officials to avoid the tax.

"Instead of paying a Rp 1 million departure tax for each of the workers, he paid Rp 500,000 or less directly to the officials. The officials kept the money instead of submitting it to the state," the detective told the Post.

However, according to a government regulation on the departure tax, migrant workers leaving the country are exempt from the departure tax.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said last week he had received a report that the state was losing hundreds of billions of rupiah because of corruption in the immigration office.

He ordered National Police chief Gen. Sutanto to investigate the matter.

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati said leakage in the collection of the departure tax at Soekarno-Hatta airport alone could reach Rp 200 billion annually.

A member of the National Ombudsman Commission, Teten Masduki, said the police had to go after high-ranking officials if they hoped to break up the network.

"With such huge losses, it is impossible that high-ranking officials from the tax and immigration directorates and the ministries are not involved in the graft," he told the Post.