Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett said yesterday that her ministry had received no notice of any visit here by Indonesian officials via diplomatic channels as is usually done.
It had been reported on an Indonesian news site that the police in that country had said on Friday that they had sent joint investigation teams to Guyana to check on the authenticity of Guyana passports bearing photographs of graft convict Gayus Tambunan and his wife, Milana Anggraeni. The joint team comprises the police and immigration directorate general, the report stated.
Contacted yesterday Rodrigues-Birkett said the foreign ministry had requested more information on the matter through the Indonesian embassy in Suriname.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee who has responsibility for immigration, when contacted said he did not know of any such team coming to Guyana and his only knowledge of the visit came via the internet. According to the minister, he has seen “no formal confirmation” of the visit.
He further told Stabroek News that local authorities would need to see the evidence to verify whether the passports are genuine or not.
The purported Guyana passports were found by the National Police’s IT team and reportedly bear the images of Tambunan and Anggraeni.
The man’s passport is said to bear the name Yosep Morris, born on May 9 1979, and is valid from July, 23, 2007 to July 12, 2012, while his wife’s passport holds the name of Ann Morris, born on February 6, 1979 and valid from July 18, 2007 until July 18, 2012.
Meanwhile according to the BBC, Tambunan, a former tax official who has been jailed for seven years after being found guilty on four counts of corruption – including bribing his way out of bribery charges, admitted to having flown to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Macau using a forged passport while supposedly in detention.
During his trial, Tambunan confessed to having helped powerful firms evade taxes, paying prosecutors and police officials, and relieving his stress by leaving his jail cell to watch an international tennis tournament in Bali, the BBC said.
According to the BBC, in his attempt to avoid a heavy sentence, Tambunan offered to be made a special advisor to the nation’s graft busters to help them catch not only the “small fish, but also the sharks and the whales” in the corrupt system.
