Ex-Bulog chief questioned, net closing on Akbar<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The two central figures in the Rp 54.6 billion State Logistics
\nAgency (Bulog) scandal switched roles during legal proceedings of
\nthe case.<\/p>\n
Former chief of Bulog, Rahardi Ramelan was questioned on
\nThursday as a key witness for the newly-named suspect, Akbar
\nTandjung.<\/p>\n
Last year, Akbar -- the House of Representatives Speaker and
\nGolkar Party chief, was questioned as a witness in a proceeding
\nthat had Rahardi as the prime suspect.<\/p>\n
Rahardi was one of seven witnesses that the Attorney General's
\nOffice investigators questioned to shed light on the role that
\nAkbar played in the alleged misuse of Rp 40 billion of Bulog
\nfunds.<\/p>\n
Investigators were attempting to trace where the non-budgetary
\nstate funds had been channeled. The premise is that Akbar, the
\nformer state\/Cabinet secretary, siphoned it off to Golkar for its
\n1999 election campaign.<\/p>\n
Rahardi revealed that he took orders directly from then-
\npresident B.J. Habibie in 1999 to disburse the money for an aid
\nproject.<\/p>\n
Rahardi said that the money was sent in the form of checks to
\nthe Office of the State Secretary in two batches. The first Rp 20
\nbillion was handed to the Office in March, while the remaining Rp
\n20 billion in April of 1999.<\/p>\n
Akbar's case is an integral part of the Rp 54.6 billion
\ncorruption case with Rahardi as the prime suspect. The Rp 40
\nbillion, according to Rahardi, was disbursed as part of the
\ngovernment social safety net program (JPS).<\/p>\n
Habibie, in separate questioning, has explained that he
\nordered Akbar to coordinate the program -- although he was not
\none of the officials responsible for JPS -- in order to insure
\n"better efficiency".<\/p>\n
The project was handled by the privately-run Raudlatul Jannah
\nFoundation with help from several contractors, whom Akbar claimed
\nhad delivered more than 16 million food packages in five
\nprovinces throughout Java.<\/p>\n
The investigators have found no evidence that the food
\npackages were ever sent.<\/p>\n
The same team of investigators, led by Manaf Djubaedi, has
\nalso named Bulog's deputy chief of finance at the time Achmad
\nRuskandar, as a suspect, along with the Foundation's chairman
\nDadang Sukandar and one of the contractors, Winfried Simatupang.<\/p>\n
The team has also been trying to ascertain why, if at all,
\nAkbar appointed Raudlatul Jannah as the organizer of the project.<\/p>\n
The suspicion that Akbar allegedly siphoned off the money to
\nGolkar, was all but confirmed, when a Golkar executive, Syamsul
\nMu'arif, now minister of communications and information, recently
\nsaid that all but one, the People's Democratic Party, of the 48
\nparties in the election got a share of the hot money.<\/p>\n
Also questioned on Thursday as a witness in Akbar's corruption
\ncase was Ruskandar. He explained that on Mar. 2, 1999, he had
\nhanded two checks, each worth Rp 10 billion, to Akbar in the
\nlatter's office. Ruskandar was accompanied by staffer H. Ishadi
\nSaleh.<\/p>\n
On the second delivery on Apr. 20, Ruskandar claimed that he
\nwas accompanied by another staffer Yusnadi Suwarta when handing
\nover eight checks with a total value of Rp 20 billion, also
\nreceived by Akbar in person.<\/p>\n
In previous questioning, Akbar claimed he had never received
\nthe money but saw it put on his desk before Raudlatul Jannah
\nFoundation collected it.<\/p>\n
Attorney General's Office spokesman Muljohardjo revealed that
\nin the questioning Ishadi clarified that the checks were put in
\nan envelope which was inserted into a file folder.<\/p>\n
"The file folder was handed to Akbar who ordered us to put it
\non his desk," Muljohardjo quoted Ishadi.<\/p>\n
Rahardi's lawyer Yan Djuanda Saputra told reporters that his
\nclient was astonished when the investigators showed him two
\nreceipts of the Bulog funds signed by the Foundation executives.<\/p>\n
Yan Djuanda said that the receipts should be signed on behalf
\nof the Office of the State Secretariat as the recipient.<\/p>\n
"Akbar collected the first receipt from Ruskandar, promising
\nthat he would give it to Bulog after he got the rest of the
\nmoney. But until he retired (as state\/Cabinet secretary), he
\nnever honored his promise.<\/p>\n
"So it was surprising that the Foundation got the receipts
\nwhich appear as if Bulog handed over the money directly to the
\nFoundation," he added.<\/p>\n
Muljohardjo also explained that the number of checks related
\nto the case was 10, and not 15, as earlier reported. All were
\nseized as evidence.<\/p>\n
Five of the checks, according to witness Muniyanti, customer
\nservice officer at the now defunct Bank Exim, were signed by
\nRuskandar and Yunardi Suwarta.<\/p>\n
The investigators revealed that all the checks were cashed by
\none person using a fake ID card through Bank Exim and Bank Duta.<\/p>\n
In a related development, more calls for Akbar to resign as
\nGolkar chief and House Speaker to facilitate the investigation
\ncame from the South Sulawesi Golkar chapter on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the South Sulawesi Golkar Chapter Edy Baramuli
\nsaid Akbar should quit to maintain the credibility of both the
\nHouse and the Golkar party.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ex-bulog-chief-questioned-net-closing-on-akbar-1447893297",
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