A rogue tax official enthralls and appals a rapt nation

EARLY rounds of the Commonwealth Bank tennis tournament in Bali rarely attract much attention, even among aficionados. A recent match however, has gripped Indonesia. Not the play, alas, but the courtside scene.

Photographs published on November 8th show a slightly strange-looking fan who had been in the stands at a women’s match days earlier. He was clearly enjoying himself, snapping photos, grinning and chatting. But something looked funny, his hair oddly full and glossy. And that centre parting? Surely not.

This was no case of vanity, but a disguise. The man was identified as Gayus Tambunan, a mid-ranking tax official who had been arrested with fanfare in March, on charges of corruption. While looking relaxed and happy in Bali, he was supposed be awaiting trial in a detention centre. He had bribed his way out, and then a photographer spotted him.

His case comes at an embarrassing time for the Indonesian government. The president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (or SBY), has pledged to eradicate corruption. Mr Tambunan had been picked up by a task-force set up by SBY to ferret out corrupt officials. But the cells where they stowed him were apparently no match for his ill-gotten gains.

As the enthralled media spent several days playing with the pictures in an effort to get to the truth, the man himself ducked and weaved. This week Mr Tambunan confessed. He had been feeling stressed, he told a judge, and needed to “refresh” himself—by watching a couple of days’ tennis at the one of the world’s top holiday resorts.

Mr Tambunan’s sheer cheek has fascinated Indonesians. In a spirit of cynical admiration, the press has exalted the taxman as “SuperGayus”. Further revelations have burnished his reputation. According to some reports, he had bribed his jailers to let him loose a total of 68 times. SuperGayus is alleged to have paid the prison warden about $40,000 for his privileges. Now the warden and eight prison guards face charges of their own.

To many, this dismaying farce has shown that impunity can still be easily bought, even after SBY’s task-force has done its job and even as Indonesia takes the co-chair of the G20’s working group against corruption.