Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said Agusrin was charged with misusing Rp 6 billion from the province's 2006 tax revenue.

"We're going on the fact he used the allegedly stolen money. Our initial investigation shows he spent the money in an investment," he said.

"(Agusrin) should have transferred the revenue to the Bengkulu coffers, but instead he deposited it in a temporary bank account for his own personal use."

However, Marwan said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had not consented to the AGO's immediate detention of the governor.

"The President only allowed us to question him, not detain him," Marwan said.

In August, the AGO named Agusrin a suspect in the case, but subsequently failed to summon him because of a months-long wait for presidential approval to question the governor.

The AGO is legally obliged to obtain presidential permission to arrest or summon a governor, regent or legislator in a criminal investigation.

A source at the AGO, however, said prosecutors had submitted to the President a request for Agusrin's arrest.

The source also said there were suspicions Agusrin had used the money for political activities, including funding the Yudhoyono-founded Democratic Party.

Agusrin won the Bengkulu gubernatorial election in October 2005 with support from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Reform Star Party (PBR). But the governor later switched his allegiance to the Democratic Party. He now serves as the chairman of the party's provincial office.

Marwan said the AGO would demand Agusrin return the stolen money, adding, "Our focus is to ask him to return all the money because it belongs to the state."

The AGO, he went on, had obtained considerable evidence and witness testimonies, including from former Bengkulu revenue office head Chairuddin. The Bengkulu District Court earlier sentenced Chairuddin to a year in jail for his role in the case.

At his trial, Chairuddin revealed Agusrin's involvement in the scandal that was uncovered last year following a report by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).

Agusrin denied the graft charges against him.

"I have no idea why the AGO questioned me and named me a suspect in the first place. The prosecutors may have gotten information from someone, but not all of it is valid," he told reporters before being questioned.

"I want to underline here that I didn't steal any money. Bengkulu didn't lose anything -- just go and check with the BPK audit from 2006 to 2008.

"None of the Bengkulu revenue went to any account belonging to a certain political party."

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