Indonesia Will Examining a Full List of Panama Papers

JAKARTA - The largest document leak on offshore companies obtained from Panama-based firm Mossack Fonseca, to look for hidden taxpayers as part of its attempts to boost tax revenue this year also of concern to the Indonesia government.

Finance Minister, Bambang Brodjonegoro said, Indonesian goverment via Ministry of Finance is looking forward to examining a full list of the so-called Panama Papers.

"Our existing data on offshore shell companies is not from (Panama Papers)," Bambang told as reported by Jakarta Globe.

Bambang said he was "hopeful" that the leaks would reveal some Indonesian holdings that would add to tax the authority's existing database it plans to use to meet the government's $100 billion tax revenue target this year, almost a third higher than last year.

The finance ministry said the tax office has identified 2,000 special purpose vehicles last month, set up by Indonesian firms and 6,000 saving accounts in overseas tax havens.

The government and lawmakers are deliberating a tax amnesty bill, aimed at encouraging people who are hiding their wealth abroad by using shell companies, to report their tax and back taxes without having to face financial penalties or prosecution. The government has estimated that the tax amnesty program would help boost the country's tax revenue by $7.6 billion this year.

Offshore shell companies as such are not illegal, thanks to loopholes in many jurisdictions, and companies around the world usually set them up to gain commercial or financial advantages.

However, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that examined the leaked document indicated that Mossack Fonseca has enabled those operating outside of the law to hide their financial trails.

Tempo, the only Indonesian publication involved in the ICIJ, reported that Sandiaga Uno, co-founder of investment firm Saratoga Capital and a possible candidate in next year's Jakarta gubernatorial election, has offshore companies with the Panama firm. Sandiaga confirmed the shell companies to Tempo but said he did not hide any illegal activities.

Other Indonesian businessmen on the list include Mochamad Reza Chalid, who has been alleged to control Pertamina's oil imports through shady dealings, and fugitive graft suspect Djoko Tjandra.

Part of the list published on the ICIJ's website revealed that some prominent people, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi and Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan have also benefited from the law firm's services.

Mossack Fonseca said on its website that the firm "conducts thorough due diligence programs to verify the legitimacy of each of our clients in accordance with the legal standards in force." The firm also states that it is "willing to cooperate with all authorities that require information through legally established channels and in compliance with the requirements of the respective legislation."

All the leaked documents, amounting to 2.6 terabytes of data in comparison with Edward Snowden's 1.7 gigabytes of leaked data is expected to be released next month.

Part of the law firm's leaked documents was published on Monday, showing drug dealers, Mafia members, corrupt politicians and tax evaders operating offshore holdings to hide their wealth from authorities. The leaks came at a time when Indonesia is doubling up its effort to examine rich individuals and multinational companies to seek possible concealed wealth.