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AGO traces website funds to Singapore
The Attorney General’s Office is investigating the flow of allegedly embezzled money generated from an online system at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry to Singapore, prosecutors said Monday
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The Attorney General’s Office is investigating the flow of allegedly embezzled money generated from an online system at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry to Singapore, prosecutors said Monday.
Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said prosecutors suspected part of the money had been transferred from local bank Danamon to an account in Singapore.
“We heard the account in Singapore is a BNI (state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia) account. We’ve already asked for authorization from that particular bank to access the account, but we’ve not received approval yet,” Marwan said.
He added the money was part of that received by private contractor PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD), the ministry’s business partner in the online system project. The AGO alleges SRD received 90 percent of total revenue from the system, which generated up to Rp 9 billion per month.
“Part of that 90 percent share was kept in several Danamon accounts, and we believe the money was transferred by SRD executives to (an account in) Singapore,” Marwan said.
However, he admitted he did not know the total amount channeled to Singapore, saying the AGO was waiting for BNI’s approval to examine the account.
The alleged graft centers on the internal distribution of funds embezzled from a legal administration website provided by SRD and run by the ministry’s directorate general of legal administration.
The website, www.sisminbakum.com, had since 2001 allowed legal entities to register for permits and nominate notaries, with services charged at between Rp 250,000 and Rp 1 million.
The AGO says the money should have gone to the state as non-tax revenue because it offered online services to the public.
Rather, it alleges, officials at the directorate general transferred 90 percent of the revenue to SRD, with the rest going to the officials. The AGO says the case has caused Rp 400 billion in state losses.
Marwan said prosecutors would this week question SRD directors about the flow of the money.
“We want to know whether SRD split its 90 percent share with other parties. Clearly we need to know who else benefited from that project,” he said.
The AGO has already named SRD president director Yohannes Woworuntu as a suspect in the case. However, unlike suspects from the ministry, the AGO has not detained Yohannes yet.
“We’ll summon Yohannes this week. He has already undergone a series of questioning, but only as a witness,” Marwan said.
The AGO has detained the ministry’s director general for public legal administration, Syamsuddin Manan Sinaga, and his predecessor Romli Atmasasmita, who is also a prominent law professor and anti-graft expert. The AGO also named Romli’s successor Zulkarnain Yunus as a suspect, but he is currently being detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for his alleged involvement in a separate graft case.
