Indonesia bars tycoon’s son from travel amid tax probe
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The investigation comes as President Prabowo Subianto steps up efforts to tighten oversight of Indonesia’s powerful business families.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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JAKARTA – Indonesia has barred Victor Hartono – the eldest son of billionaire Robert Budi Hartono – from leaving the country in connection with a tax-related corruption probe, according to a law ministry official.
Four other individuals were also added to the no-travel list, including Ken Dwijugiasteadi, a former director general of taxation, said Mr Yuldi Yusman, acting director general of immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, in a text message on Nov 20.
Separately, in response to a question from Bloomberg about the five individuals placed on the list, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said it had requested travel bans for several individuals pending an investigation into possible underreporting of corporate tax liabilities from 2016 to 2020. The requests were to ensure individuals’ availability for questioning, he added.
Attempts to reach Hartono and Dwijugiasteadi were unsuccessful.
Mr Robert Budi Hartono is South-east Asia’s fifth-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He and his brother Michael Bambang Hartono control PT Bank Central Asia, the nation’s biggest bank by market capitalisation.
The investigation comes as President Prabowo Subianto steps up efforts to tighten oversight of Indonesia’s powerful business families, particularly in the commodity sector, which he blames for environmental damage and lost state revenue.
His administration has seized millions of hectares of palm oil plantations and parts of mines it says were operating illegally. Bloomberg
