"There has been progress in the investigations and now we know that a big syndicate is involved," the minister said when met at the presidential office complex here on Wednesday.
He said this was one of the results of a closed-door meeting between his ministry`s officials and the team investigating the case at his office.
He declined to explain further regarding the syndicate, adding the investigation could fail if he spoke too much about it to the public.
"Who was behind all this. I would not name persons as it could obstruct the investigation," he said.
Gayus is suspected of being involved in a tax fraud conspiracy. He has recently drawn public attention after he was found to have used a forged passport to visit several countries in September while he was supposed to be in prison.
He shocked the public in November when he was found watching an international tennis match in Bali also while he was officially an inmate of the Mobile Briagde (Brimob) Headquarters` detention center.
The police have arrested three people allegedly involved in forging the passport for Gayus.
"We have arrested three people and are still continuing the investigation into their role in the passport issuance," chief of the National Police intelligence, Commissioner General Ito Sumardi, said here on Wednesday.
The three who were arrested are civilians who have worked as passport brokers. Ito declined to answer when asked if an African citizen was linked to the syndicate.
Gayus was in Macau on September 22-24 and Kuala Lumpur and Singapore from September 30 before returning home on October 2.
The police found that the passport used by Gayus bearing fake name Sony Laksono but having the picture of Gayus wearing a wig to disguise himself was initially intended for a five-year old baby named Margaretha. Gayus confessed he got the passport from a broker.(*)
Reporter:
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
