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AKARTA: The city police say that they are searching for Soenarno Hadi, a suspect in an embezzlement case that has implicated former president Soeharto’s grandson Ari Haryo Wibowo Harjojudanto, popularly known as Ari Sigit.

Five men have been named suspects in the case, including Ari. The other three have been identified by the police as Alung, John and Basaruddin. The four suspects have been questioned, but Soenarno has managed to evade the police.

“We have officially included Soenarno on our most wanted list [DPO],” police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto told reporters on Thursday. “We have distributed the DPO document to all regional police offices in Indonesia to help us catch him.”

Soenarno served as president director at PT Dinamika Daya Andalan, where Ari served as the chairman of the board of commissioners. PT Krakatau Wajatama in Cilegon reported Ari to the Jakarta Police on Oct. 27 over his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of Rp 2.5 billion (US$275,000) in project funds.

Krakatau purportedly gave the money to Dinamika as a down payment for a land-dredging project in Cilegon. Problems arose in the project, which prompted two officials from Krakatau Wajatama, identified as Sutrisno and Mariati, to report Ari to the city police.

Rikwanto said the police believed that the suspect was still in the country, as the police had not found any record of him going abroad.

Ari was questioned by the police for five hours on Wednesday, during which he reportedly denied any involvement in the scandal.