Probing officials' wealth

Probing officials' wealth

There is a strong demand today that the wealth of
officials/former officials should be subject to investigation
(for example in the case of former president Soeharto).

However, there may be no legal foundation for state
apparatuses, for example the Attorney General's Office, to simply
carry out such investigations. Law No. 3/1971 is there to be
applied if someone has been proved to be involved in corruption.
The only way possible is to resort to the tax law, for example
Law No. 10/1994 on income tax. It is the obligation for every
government official to send in an annual tax return to the
Directorate General of Taxation (see Presidential Decree No.
52/1971 on reporting of personal taxes).

Based on Law No. 9/1994 on general provisions on and procedure
for taxation, the Directorate General of Taxation may request
information from anybody -- a third party -- about the data of a
taxpayer. It is a criminal offense if a third party refuses to
provide the information requested, regardless of the law on
confidentiality (e.g.: for banking institutions).

I propose that the Directorate General of Taxation and the
Attorney General's Office set up a joint team. All tax returns
sent in by government officials/former government officials
suspected of amassing wealth through corruption, collusion and
nepotism (KKN) must be inspected by the experts. For the sake of
verifying the tax returns, data must be sought from third parties
as long as it is related to the alleged practices of corruption,
collusion and nepotism (KKN) committed by the officials.

If the tax returns have been incorrectly or untruthfully
completed, an additional tax assessment may be issued to those
taxpayers concerned, stating a punishment of 400 percent of the
tax owing (an administrative sanction). Besides this, they may
also be brought to the court on criminal charges. The sentence
is, pursuant to the tax law, two years in prison. If it is not
considered enough, the taxpayers may be prosecuted on the basis
of Anticorruption Law No. 3/1971. It is up to the Attorney
General's Office.

In the case of Soeharto, all presidential decrees/instructions
indicating elements of KKN must be judicially reviewed. According
to the Indonesian Transparency Society, 79 presidential decrees
contain elements of KKN and the abuse of presidential authority,
which is a legal violation inflicting losses to the state and
benefiting certain people.

We hope President Habibie's administration takes immediate
action, while the evidence can still be obtained. The people are
waiting.

SUHARSONO HADIKUSUMO

Jakarta