The Version of The Truth among Susno, Gayus, Police, and AGO

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — Gayus Tambunan, a taxation directorate general employee, suddenly got the public's spotlight. His name came up when the former National Police Chief Detective, Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, stated that there was a court mafia issue that occurred while the police were handling a case that implicated Gayus.

Prior to Susno's statement, the police never revealed to the media that they probed Gayus. The Attorney General's Office (AGO) handled Gayus' file, before the file was then given over to the Tangerang State Court, but it didn't reveal this case either. After the case emerged to public attention, the police and AGO have given their versions of the story.

According to the police, initially the National Police detective unit received a report from the Financial Transaction Analysis and Report Center (PPATK) regarding a suspicious Rp. 25 billion in Gayus' account. The huge amount of money was suspicious considering that Gayus is only a Class III employee in the taxation office.
 
The case was then handled by the National Police detective unit, special economy directorate II, under the command of Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas. At that time Susno was still chief detective, while Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman was Edmond's deputy. Now, Edmond is the Lampung police chief, while Raja has taken over Edmond's previous position.

The investigators probed the account. They were informed by the PPATK concerning three suspicious transactions from two parties that deposited a total of Rp. 395 million, which is part of the suspicious Rp. 25 billion. The two parties were PT Megah Jaya Citra Garmindo, which deposited Rp. 370 million, and Roberto Santonius, Rp. 25 million.

Based on the probe, the police then confirmed that the Rp. 395 billion was illegitimate. The investigators served three charges against Gayus: corruption, money laundering, and embezzlement. When the case file was handed over to the AGO, the prosecutor instructed the investigators to freeze the Rp. 25 billion in Gayus' account. The investigators instructed the bank to execute this.

The Rp. 24.6 billion

Then what about the Rp. 24.6 billion in Gayus' account? According to the police, the money was claimed by someone named Andi Kosasi, who stated that he gave Gayus the money to buy a land. Even after the Rp. 395 million case has been declared closed by the prosecutor, the investigators still hasn't been able to prove that the Rp. 24.6 billion was illegitimate. Because of this glitch, the investigators can't escalate the probe on the money to the level of investigation. Only the Rp. 395 million could be processed by the law.

The police claimed that they couldn't block Gayus' account for too long. The investigators then sent a letter to the bank to unblock the account. The letter was signed by Raja, dated November 26, 2009. The request to unblock the account occurred four days before Susno handed over his position to Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi.

It's worth noting that Susno on various occasions stated that the account was unblocked and disbursed after he was dismissed as chief detective. Susno also accused several generals and middle ranking officers in the National Police of having taken part of the Rp. 24.6 billion, and he even accused the prosecutor of doing the same.

The Attorney General has also made a statement. Through a press conference on March 22, 2010, Cirus Sinaga, the leading prosecutor in Gayus Tambunan's case stated that the AGO indeed received Gayus' case with three charges for corruption, money laundering, and embezzling. But based on the prosecutor's probe the charges that can be processed in court are on money laundering and embezzling.

After trial, the public prosecutor was sure that Gayus had committed a crime, and thus requested 1 year of imprisonment and 1 year of probation for Gayus on March 3, 2010.

However, the panel of judges had a different opinion. The judges decided that Gayus couldn't be proven guilty to those charges. They read their verdict, number 49/B/2010/PN TNG, on March 12, 2010, that released Gayus from the charges,

Prosecutor's version

What does the prosecutor think about the Rp. 24.6 billion? According to the prosecutor the money was given by Andi Kosasi to Gayus to buy a 2 hectare land in North Jakarta. Andi had a plan to build stores on the property.

Andi and Gayus met at a flight. Then they cooperated to buy the property. The venture was recorded, black on white, dated May 25, 2008.

The prosecutor believes that Andi gave the money to Gayus in US dollars, in six transactions, at the home of Gayus' parents-in-law. The six transactions are as follows: June 1, 2008, USD 900,000; September 15, 2008, USD 650,000; October 27, 2008, USD 260,000; November 10, 2008, USD 200,000; December 10, 2008, USD 500,000; and February 16, 2009, USD 300,000. The AGO didn't receive any case from the police for the Rp. 24.6 billion.

Susno claimed that the Rp. 24.6 billion partly went to a number of generals. Susno also mentioned that the case brokers had a room right next to the National Police Chief's office. After this daring statement, all the implicated parties are beating their war drums.

The National Police are gathering evidences to charge Susno on contempt and slander on the police institution. Edmond has filed in a defamation charge to the police. The four prosecutors implicated are also waiting for the Attorney General Agung Hendarman to permit them to file in reports. (SAN/C17-09)