Speaking at a hearing session at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Hadi said the upcoming investigation was a response to recent corruption cases involving junior tax official Gayus Tambunan and former top tax official Bahasyim Assafie.
Gayus allegedly amassed Rp 28 billion (US$3.08 million) within a year through brokering tax deals while Bahasyim was found in possession of suspicious funds worth Rp 64 billion stored in his family members’ bank accounts.
The tax cases occurred after the government launched a massive reform program that includes a policy of ensuring the salary level of tax officials is among the highest within the government.
The cases have so far implicated dozens of officials from the tax office, the Attorney General’s Office and the police, who allegedly conspired in brokering legal cases in relation to the two suspects. Some officials have been named as suspects while some have been demoted from their posts.
Hadi said the investigation into illegal practice within the tax office would be part of the agency’s regular audit.
“It’s just a matter of timing,” he said hinting that a special investigation outside the regular audit period was possible under a special order from the House.
The upcoming investigation, Hadi said, would focus on identifying regulatory violations, conflicting regulations and regulation ambiguities.
At the hearing session, Hadi also revealed that an audit into government spending in the second semester of last year showed indications of state fund misappropriation worth a combined Rp 730.45 billion and $2.23 million.
Hadi said the BPK had classified the alleged misappropriations into 46 cases, which have been reported to the police and the Corruption Eradication Commission.
The audit into spending in the second semester also resulted in a series of accounting recommendations to the central and regional governments on how to validate Rp 1.5 trillion worth of unaccounted spending.
The second semester audit also includes an assessment on the spending of state firms. Hadi said PT Indonesia Power, a subsidiary of state-owned electricity firm PT PLN, failed to carry out efficient measures in producing electricity due to the inability to secure gas supplies to fuel its combined-cycle power plants.
The failure, Hadi said, had cost the company Rp 27.94 trillion within the second semester as it had to rely solely on diesel fuel instead of gas.
Ilya Aviani, the BPK’s main auditor, said the inability to secure a gas supply was mainly because Indonesia Power had no contracts with gas distributors that would secure a sustainable supply.
Hadi, former director general of taxation, attracted public attention after he reported his wealth to the KPK last month as demanded by government regulation.
According to the report, he had generated an additional Rp 12 billion worth of assets to his Rp 26 billion wealth in 2006.
Hadi said his wealth mostly came from donations. Many said they were skeptical about the new BPK chieftain, but Hadi maintained the donations were legitimate.
thejakartapost
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