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‘Why Can’t I Be Rich?’ Former Indonesia Tax Director Asks Court
Heru Andriyanto | January 28, 2011

A tearful Bahasyim Assifie has claimed that he amassed millions of dollars from honest work. (JG Photo/ Afriadi Hikmal) A tearful Bahasyim Assifie has claimed that he amassed millions of dollars from honest work. (JG Photo/ Afriadi Hikmal)
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megoblok
3:17am Jan 26, 2011

And I thought that pillar of the Legal establishment for many many years in Indonesia, first port of call for many foreign J/Vs, Kartini Mulyadi was "Halal". Silly me.

mauriceg
9:47pm Jan 25, 2011

There are daily bad acting classes to which practically every Indonesian has access. I'm referring to the daily DrossTV shows known as sinetron. Most people watching those see the calculated facial twitching and false anguish and over the top eye movements of the men and the incessant tears and wailing of the women.

What better schooling can one have than this, in which alleged criminals emulate this dreary sub-pantomimic pathos in court to get lenient sentences. If for no other reason, let's ban this ghastly how-not-to-act theatrical nastiness from all our homes. It is poisonous to the mind, and it gives criminals too many ideas.

mcculdr
4:50pm Jan 25, 2011

It should be easy for him to prove his past income, just provide his back tax returns. Surely as head of the tax bureau he did file tax returns....or add another charge for that.


blackberryboy
3:29pm Jan 25, 2011

I just love the way Pribumi is so respectful to everyone.

Maybe he is legit.. consider Richard Branson. started with zero now one of the worlds richest men...


langfordpeter
2:17pm Jan 25, 2011

“Why isn’t a civil servant allowed to be rich?”

I just don't know how to response to this ....just don't know.....

Jakarta. A tearful Bahasyim Assifie haltingly read out his defense in a Jakarta courtroom on Monday, saying the millions he amassed came from honest work.

The former top tax official is facing 15 years in jail for money laundering and graft after authorities discovered Rp 60 billion ($6.6 million) stashed in family bank accounts. But he pleaded with the court to consider his defense, and asked: “Why isn’t a civil servant allowed to be rich?”

Bahasyim became director of tax examinations and investigations in the Jakarta Tax Office in October 2002, with the power to question taxpayers, seize documents, launch searches and recommend legal action.

But he said the bulk of his wealth came from the numerous businesses he had run, both here and abroad, since joining the tax office in 1975.

“Don’t target me for having a lot more money than my salary as a civil servant,” Bahasyim told the panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court.

“I have businesses inside and outside the country and my money is ‘halal,’ a result of my hard work,” he said.

“I did not commit graft. Neither did I inflict losses to the state. I don’t understand why I have been put here in the defendant’s chair.”

Bahasyim, overcome by emotion, was forced to pause as his lawyer brought him a tissue, on the instruction of a judge.

“Someone is a victim here,” he continued. “And his name is Bahasyim Assifie.”

The prosecution last week recommended a 15-year jail sentence for the defendant on charges that he “amassed Rp 60 billion plus $681,000 be tween 2002 and 2009 through illegal means by misusing his position and authority as a civil servant.”

Under the Anti-Money Laundering Law, the burden of proof rests with the defendant. Prosecutors said Bahasyim had failed to provide evidence that his money came from legal sources.

The defendant kept his money in a number of bank accounts under the names of his wife, Sri Purwanti, and his daughters, Winda Arum Hapsari and Riandini Resanti, prosecutors said.

In the original indictment, prosecutors said they had discovered more than 300 transactions involving the family accounts worth a total of around Rp 932 billion. However, on Monday they said that amount was the total volume of transactions and the actual amount involved was only about Rp 66 billion.

Bahasyim also purchased a house for about Rp 8 billion in Jakarta’s Menteng district in 2005 and registered it under his son’s name, but prosecutors said he could not prove the money came from legal sources as claimed.

Prosecutors also accused the defendant of taking Rp 1 billion from businesswoman Kartini Mulyadi, but the prosecution failed to present her as a witness, instead reading her police deposition to the court.

It’s not the first time the court has seen a tearful tax official in the defendant’s chair. In the high-profile Gayus Tambunan case, the former taxman burst into tears as he apologized to judges for leaving his cell for Bali.

Gayus, who last week was sentenced to seven years in jail, didn’t mention at the time that he had also managed to travel to Macau and Kuala Lumpur on a fake passport, as was later discovered by authorities.