T

he president director of state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura I (API),Tommy Soetomo,
has been named a graft suspect by the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO) in a case centering on the procurement of five fire trucks worth Rp 63 billion (US$5,3 million) in 2011.

AGO spokesman Tony Tri Spontana said his office had found strong indication that Tommy was responsible for alleged irregularities in the tender of the five trucks, which were allocated to airports under AP I'€™s management in Yogyakarta, Semarang and Surakarta in Central Java, Makassar in South Sulawesi and Manado in North Sulawesi.

Aside from Tommy, the AGO also named the director of PT Scientek Computindo, identified only by his initials HL, a suspect in the case. Tony, however, declined to elaborate on HL'€™s role and his alleged violations in the tender.

If convicted, Tommy and HL could face 20 years'€™ imprisonment under the 2001 Corruption Law.

'€œWe are still reviewing the case and assessing total state losses caused by the project,'€ he said in a telephone interview.

Separately, junior attorney general for special crimes Widyo Pramono said the AGO had no immediate plans to issue an arrest warrant and travel ban against Tommy.

'€œWe don'€™t work hastily. Just wait, we will act soon,'€ Widyo said at his office.

The AGO has questioned five witnesses in the case, technical specifications official Yudhaprana Sugarda and his subordinate Didik Suryanto, two officials from the tender committee, Yudi Rahman Aziz and Chadik Wibowo, and president director of PT Pusaka Niaga Indonesia Petrus Tanardi.

Petrus was questioned in his capacity as a participant in the tender.

'€œDidik assisted the tender team in determining the estimated project value, while Chadik helped go over the specifications [of the fire trucks],'€ Tony wrote in a press release.

AP I corporate secretary Farid Indra Nugraha said that the company would cooperate in the investigation but stressed that the tender had been conducted according to the presidential decree on procurement.

He added that Tommy had signed the project'€™s documents but did not acknowledge the details of the tender.

'€œ[Tommy] was shocked after learning from the media that he had been named a suspect,'€ he said, as quoted by news portal tempo.co.

'€œBut, the AGO has authority and we will support [the investigation],'€ Farid added.

According to Farid, Tommy has yet to be questioned by the AGO.