Customs Officials in KPK Crosshairs

[fastpitch17]

How many here have mentioned problems with customs. Problem is, they could find it all over any government service ministry.

Customs in KPK crosshairs over extravagant lifestyles

High-profile former official sorry for ‘eroding public trust’ in government.

www.thejakartapost.com

 

[jstar]

So he apologized for flexing (a fashionable word here for showing off online) instead of how he acquired the wealth?

 

[fastpitch17]

So he apologized for flexing (a fashionable word here for showing off online) instead of how he acquired the wealth?

Nobody said the officials here are the smartest people. One can only hope law encorcement starts looking into everyone. Don't wait for someone to show off. Problem is, law enforcement can be swayed. Easily.

All of these things coming out should have been caught much earlier. Either the checkers are turning a richer blind eye towards these officials or they are incapable of doing their jobs.

 

[jstar]

Under the motto “don’t ask don’t tell”, this is a kind of amazing ignorance of the root cause of the problem.

An official statement (circulation letter) has been sent out by by a BUMN (state owned company) in the port.

The letter specifically states that employees and their family members should not post and brag on social media or show off their riches in public…

NB; There are two types of BUMN; the Persero and the Perum. The former is a PT and the government owns at least 51%. The latter is a more traditional fully state owned company.

 

[SamR]

This is a by-product of the "Son of tax official bashes his girlfriend's ex until the latter fell into a coma" story. The tax official in question has been questioned about his stated wealth, sacked and subject of an ongoing investigation into his various transactions. People on social media are now getting into the act by pointing out officials in "lucrative" agencies whose social media postings suggest a life in luxury and said officials are getting some attention by the relevant agency or the KPK as this Customs official has.

The cynical response is to say "This will die down in a few weeks and everything will be back to normal".

IMO, I don't think Indonesian officials are any more or less corrupt than their counterparts but it's their tendency to show-off that gets them in trouble. It's like in the Goodfellas when everybody started to buy their wives expensive coats and jewelry after their heist was successful instead of keeping their head down.

 

[jstar]

Of course it all depends on how high (or low) a country scores on the corruption index. But honestly I can’t imagine that in Western Europe or the US, tax officials have a safety deposit box at the bank with 36 billion ($2.3M) in foreign currency. (That’s what they discovered now.) And amplops circulation in the office every morning to give people their ‘share’? Wow.

 

[dafluff]

Of course it all depends on how high (or low) a country scores on the corruption index. But honestly I can’t imagine that in Western Europe or the US, tax officials have a safety deposit box at the bank with 36 billion ($2.3M) in foreign currency. (That’s what they discovered now.) And amplops circulation in the office every morning to give people their ‘share’? Wow.

I remember a while back a US congressman was arrested for corruption and they found US$ 120,000 cash hidden in his refrigerator, and I thought to myself, "that's it?"...

 

[Hawk256]

Of course it all depends on how high (or low) a country scores on the corruption index. But honestly I can’t imagine that in Western Europe or the US, tax officials have a safety deposit box at the bank with 36 billion ($2.3M) in foreign currency. (That’s what they discovered now.) And amplops circulation in the office every morning to give people their ‘share’? Wow.

The only difference in corruption from one nation to the next is the price of admission. It will cost you more in more develped nation but don't think for one minute that it's not there.

 

[jstar]

It’s not as simple as “as long as you pay enough” or “every man has its price”. That is on a very individual level. But here it is problem of the whole society. Emerging market economies (as BRIIC for instance) have higher corruption levels compared to developed countries.

This is an interesting study/document by the IMF, kicking in some open doors of course, but still…

Economic Issues No. 6 -- Why Worry About Corruption?

Subsidies, nepotism and low wages for governmental employees are some obvious reasons which apply here.

But interestingly enough, resource rich economies (which Indonesia definitely is) suffer far more. And price control and trade restrictions are some not so well known factors; in fact there’s not so much economic freedom here.

 

[pantaiema]

The Case of Rafael A Trisambodo (the father of Mario) might be just the tip of the iceberg. Do not forget many of these corruption / graft cases are rooted from the old government who allow this to happen or might even getting involved in collusion.
Al least the current government / president have tried to do something. They have revealed many corruption / graft cases and put people in jail more than any other Indonesian governments/presidents had done in the past. The press have more freedom to reveal the case to public.

People might still remember during the dictator Suharto Regime. At that time Indonesia were frequently sitting either on the top of the Most Corrupt country or among the top 10 most corrupt countries in the world, even worse than the corrupt countries in Africa.

This is the corruption perception index (CPI) of the most corrupt countries in the world,. Currently Indonesia is on 110 (out of 177) slipping down 34 places from previous years.

2022 Corruption Perceptions Index: Explore the results

How does your country measure up in the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index?

www.transparency.org

Corruption and religious extremism is the main causes that hinder the Indonesian development, a country with reasonable amount of natural resources.

 

[Samoerai]

Of course it all depends on how high (or low) a country scores on the corruption index. But honestly I can’t imagine that in Western Europe or the US, tax officials have a safety deposit box at the bank with 36 billion ($2.3M) in foreign currency. (That’s what they discovered now.) And amplops circulation in the office every morning to give people their ‘share’? Wow.

Who now honestly wants to report one's income to the Tax Authorety in Indonesia? Or ask advice of tax consulting firms in Indonesia?

"The latest big tax scandal involving mid-level tax officer Rafael Alun Trisambodo, whose further investigative audits revealed he owned financial and fixed assets five to 10 times what he reported to KPK, was disclosed early this month only after his son’s aggravated assault of a minor went viral nationwide on social and mainstream media. Further investigations by KPK and PPATK uncovered that Rafael, his spouse and children own several companies and 40 bank accounts, which over the past five years recorded Rp 500 billion (US$33 million) worth of transactions. Rafael also was found to own a safe deposit box at Bank Mandiri that holds the equivalent of Rp 37 billion in US dollar notes. The investigations also uncovered that 134 tax officials and their spouses owned shares in 280 companies, including two tax consulting firms, which create big conflicts of interest"

This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title "Combatting money laundering ". Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2023/03/15/combatting-money-laundering.html.

 

[jstar]

The envelope thing that I was referring to, makes clear there is an enormous peer pressure for everyone to ‘participate’. So according to witnesses money is being divided over all officials in the office. It’s very difficult to refuse money, esp. if all your colleagues don’t see anything wrong with it and if you will be bullied if you don’t.

 

[Dave70]

The envelope thing that I was referring to, makes clear there is an enormous peer pressure for everyone to ‘participate’. So according to witnesses money is being divided over all officials in the office. It’s very difficult to refuse money, esp. if all your colleagues don’t see anything wrong with it and if you will be bullied if you don’t.

Is it true that all is well and forgiven if they gave zakat or sadaqa?

 

[centurion]

"The envelope thing"?This is more like a "suitcase thing".

 

[jstar]

Yep, now we know what we see at VIP Money Changer when these guys with the backpacks full with cash come to change into USD.

It seems they spend most during travel. Obviously it’s not that easy to spend it on something else here without leaving a trace. See the whole soap around the registration of the Wrangler Rubicon. I guess they never get checked, let alone caught, when taking more than €10K per person without reporting. But I’m also not convinced obedient reporting in the EU would have any consequences.

 

[jstar]

And there’s another example of the spouse of a mid level official (with an official salary of 4 juta) who has been flexing on social media.

So the Ministry of State Secretariat (Kemensetneg) has decided to investigate the origin of the assets of its employees and is now forming an internal team to trace the source of wealth of this Head of Public Bureau of Vehicle Administration.

Nice presents (100 gr.).

 

[Samoerai]

And there’s another example of the spouse of a mid level official (with an official salary of 4 juta) who has been flexing on social media.

View attachment 2845

So the Ministry of State Secretariat (Kemensetneg) has decided to investigate the origin of the assets of its employees and is now forming an internal team to trace the source of wealth of this Head of Public Bureau of Vehicle Administration.

View attachment 2846

Nice presents (100 gr.).

It hurts me reading this .. let alone orang Indonesia ... they must me furious, right?

 

[Helpful Herbert]

Difficult to know who is worse. Tax office, customs officials, Samsat (vehicles), manpower. Strangely the one that seems to perform best these days is immigration.

 

[Ruserious]

let alone orang Indonesia ... they must me furious, right?

You think it comes as a surprise to them?
Also im obviously against corruption but how can a mid level government employee only have a salary of 4 juta per month? The system is broken

 

[Samoerai]

You think it comes as a surprise to them?
Also im obviously against corruption but how can a mid level government employee only have a salary of 4 juta per month? The system is broken

Yes, I agree .. with salaries that low, it opens the door for corruption. Yet, I doubt this employees salary would be 4 juta. That cannot be right?