JAKARTA - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and SOE Minister Erick Thohir are reportedly scheduled to provide a statement on the discovery of smuggled goods on board a new Airbus A330-900 aircraft operated by PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (GIAA).
“There will be an announcement made by Mr Erick and Ms Sri Mulyani, but we still don’t know when. They are still adjusting their schedules,” Head of the Indonesian Customs’ Communication and Publication Subdirectorate Deni Surjantoro told Tempo on Wednesday (4/12).
On November 17, 2019, Indonesian Customs found 18 boxes containing smuggled goods on board an A330-990 newly flown in by Garuda from Toulouse, France. The boxes contained spare parts of a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Shovelhead motorcycle and two disassembled Brompton folding bicycles.
Two passengers, known as SAW and LS, are recorded by the flight manifest as owners of the smuggled goods. The manifest also recorded members Garuda’s board of directors, including CEO Ari Askhara, as passengers of the flight.
The matter is currently being investigated by Indonesian Customs. Garuda Corporate Secretary Ikhsan Rosan has claimed that Garuda is willing to cooperate with Customs and pay taxes on the luxury goods if necessary.
Meanwhile, SOE Minister Erick Thohir has signaled that he is ready to dismiss Garuda directors if they are proven to have been involved in the case. The involved individuals, he added, should resign before their involvement is discovered.
“If that’s true, they need to be dismissed. They better resign before they are found out, like Japanese samurais,” said Mr Thohir. (MS)