Artalyta admits close ties with Sjamsul

Andreas D. Arditya ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 07/18/2008 11:17 AM  |  Headlines

Major bribery suspect Artalyta Suryani has admitted to having close ties with tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim and meeting him in Singapore where he was staying allegedly to escape justice in Indonesia.

Artalyta is standing trial at the Corruption Court on charges of bribing prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan, who led an Attorney General's Office (AGO) team to investigate a bank loan scandal implicating Sjamsul and another tycoon Anthony Salim.

During Urip's trial at the same court Thursday, Artalyta said she had known Sjamsul's wife Itjih for a long time.

"I am very close with Itjih, although I'm not that close with Sjamsul," said the businesswoman who is facing a five-year prison term in the case.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested both Urip and Artalyta on March 2, 2008, and found US$660,000 in cash in his car upon leaving her house. The money was believed to be a bribe from Artalyta.

"Urip had told me the AGO was going to summon Sjamsul. I later told Sjamsul about it during a visit to Singapore. Sjamsul asked me to monitor developments in his case and tell him if I received a summons for him," Artalyta said.

She added that her house in Singapore was close to Sjamsul's, and that her South Jakarta home had belonged to Sjamsul until she bought it from him in 2001.

At this house, the KPK arrested both Urip and Artalyta two days after the AGO decided to drop the investigation into the graft cases of Sjamsul and Anthony over the misappropriation of Bank Indonesia liquidity assistance (BLBI) funds.

Artalyta also acknowledged having had intensive communications with Urip about the BLBI investigation since early December last year.

However, it remains unclear whether the bribery case is connected to Sjamsul's role in the BLBI scandal.

Sjamsul defied three summonses for questioning at the AGO before his case was closed due to "lack of evidence".

Artalyta also admitted to having called Itjih in Singapore a day after the AGO announced its decision to drop the BLBI probe into her husband.

The transcript of a recorded telephone conversation between the women was read out by Judge Andi Bachtiar during Artalyta's previous hearing.

In the conversation, Artalyta told Itjih about the result of the AGO's investigation.

"I need your help for the shortages for subordinates -- JAMs, Ses-JAMs and Udji. I haven't yet distributed anything to them," Artalyta told her.

"Yeah, yeah. OK," Itjih replied.

"JAM" is the AGO abbreviation for jaksa agung muda (deputy attorney general) and "Ses-JAM" is short for secretary to the deputy attorney general. Udji refers to Untung Udji Santoso, the then deputy attorney general for state administrative affairs.

The Corruption Court was questioning whether there may have been a larger conspiracy involving the AGO in the bribery case. Both Urip and Artalyta, however, have insisted the money she gave him was a private loan.

KPK prosecutors, on the other hand, were suspicious the excuse was collusion between the two defendants.

During the Thursday trial session, the prosecutors revealed several telephone conversations between Urip and Artalyta secretly made during their detentions last month.

In a June 10, 2008, tapped conversation, Artalyta told Urip to stick to the "private loan" defense and to be careful with one of the judges who would "peel" him over it.

Urip has also defended himself against another charge of extorting former Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency chief Glen Yusuf, a witness in the BLBI investigation.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.