Mar.22, 2010, 4:20 PM, Source: The Jakarta Post

The Tangerang District Court confirmed on Monday its decision to free Gayus Tambunan, an employee of the Taxation Directorate General, from all charges in money laundering and embezzlement cases as he was not proven guilty.

The district court spokesman, Arthur Hangewa, said the the verdict to free the defendant was made by a  panel of judges presided over by the district court chief M. Asnun with two other members Haran Tarigan and Bambang Widiyatmoko on March 12, 2010.

“The panel of judges freed Gayus Tambunan from all charges because he was not proven guilty of committing money laundering crime and embezzling the state money as accused by prosecutor,” he said.

Asnun could not be reached for comments on the verdict because he is conducting minor haj pilgrimage (umroh) in Mecca , Saudi Arabia, while Haran and Bambang  refused to comment.

“Let’s wait for Pak Asnun who presided over the trial. I can’t say anything now,” Haran told The Jakarta Post.  

According to Arthur, the case began when PT Mega Citra Jaya Garmindo, a private firm in Tangerang,  asked Gayus who was in charge of investigating tax objections/appeal by individual or legal bodies at the Taxation Directorate General to arrange the company’s tax payment.

As his service fees, the company transferred Rp 170 million to his account at BCA Bintaro on Sept. 21, 2007 and another sum of Rp 200 million on Aug. 15, 2008.

“Since the latter did not do the job as requested by the firm, PT Mega Citra Jaya Garmindo reported him to the police for embezzlement,” he said.

Prosecutor Nasran Aziz charged the defendant with violating Articles 3 of the 2003 law on money laundering and Article 372 of the Criminal Code on embezzlement. The Articles carry a maximum punishment of 5 years in jail.

Nasran filed an appeal against the verdict to the district court last Wednesday. Previously he asked the panel of judges to sentence the defendant to one year prison term and another year term of probation.