Attorney General orders immediate questioning of Tommy

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 07/25/2007 11:49 AM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji has ordered an immediate inquiry into the alleged misappropriation of Clove Marketing and Buffer Agency (BPPC) funds by the youngest son of former president Soeharto, Hutomo ""Tommy"" Mandala Putra.

""I have asked Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes to summon him (Tommy) for questioning before Aug. 22,"" Hendarman told reporters after inaugurating officials for three high-ranking positions at the AGO headquarters in South Jakarta on Tuesday.

Tommy, who was the BPPC chairman at the time the alleged misappropriation of Rp 175 billion (US$19.4 million) of Bank Indonesia liquidity credits took place, was initially named as the sole suspect in the case.

The credits, which were supposed to be channeled to clove farmers, were allegedly used by Tommy for his personal purposes.

The AGO installed three new junior attorney generals Tuesday. They were Kemas Yahya Rahman as Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes, Wisnu Subroto as Junior Attorney General for Intelligence Affairs and Parnomo as Junior Attorney General for Supervisory Affairs.

Hendarman said there was a possibility of more suspects being named in the alleged corruption case.

""I don't think he (Tommy) used the money corruptly alone,"" he said, adding that the investigation team for the case was still examining witnesses intensively.

Kemas Yahya Rahman said he would prepare more evidence prior to summoning Tommy as a suspect.

""We are in the process of collecting evidence from witnesses. We will summon him when the time comes,"" he said.

""The sooner the better.""

The AGO officially named Tommy as a suspect in the BPPC case last week based on evidence collected by the Joint Team to Eradicate Corruption (TGPK), which was disbanded in 2001, and new evidence the AGO uncovered.

The BPPC was a private institution granted a clove-trading monopoly during the Soeharto administration. Farmers were required to sell cloves to the BPPC at a low price and the agency then sold them to cigarette companies at a higher price, claiming the margin was for equity shares and diversification funds.

The BPPC was disbanded in 1998 following an agreement between Soeharto and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to eliminate the clove-trading monopoly. The IMF refused to disburse a $43 billion funds package to save Indonesia's ailing economy if the monopoly remained in place.

Aside from the BPPC case, the AGO is also investigating several other alleged corruption cases in which either Soeharto or his children are suspected to have been involved, including the Goro land swap deal, the Sempati Air case and the Timor Putra National car project.(05)

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