Indonesia names two tax officers as suspects in $112 million pulp under-invoicing case

JAKARTA, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has accused two tax officers of accepting bribes from a listed pulp producer to facilitate under-invoicing, causing state losses of around 2 trillion rupiah ($111.95 million), an official said.

• The under-invoicing by the company, Toba Pulp Lestari, allegedly took place between 2008 and 2025, Saiful Bahri Siregar, director of investigations at AGO’s special crimes unit, told reporters late on Wednesday.

• The company, which is involved in the pulp processing and forestry industry, is alleged to have exported pulp products to its affiliate from 2008 using a harmonised system code with a lower value, which “resulted in a reduction in the corporate tax revenue that the state should have received,” Siregar said.

• The prosecutors did not name the company as a suspect.

• The two suspects, identified only by the initials of BP and SR, were tax audit supervisors for the company between 2020 and 2024, he added.

• “The suspects, acting unlawfully, failed to carry out their duties and functions as supervisors… And the suspects have received a certain amount of money from the company,” he said.

• The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• The initial estimate of state losses was 2 trillion rupiah, Siregar said.

• The suspects allegedly violated an anti-corruption clause in Indonesia’s criminal code that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

($1 = 17,865 rupiah)

(Reporting by Bernadette Christina and Ananda Teresia; Editing by David Stanway )