Gus Dur 'not linked to Bulog scam'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Despite the presence of strong evidence, Alip
\nAgung Suwondo, President Abdurrahman Wahid's former masseur,
\ncontinued to deny that the President was linked to the Rp 35
\nbillion (US$4 million) State Logistics Agency (Bulog) scandal.<\/p>\n
\"I told the police that it had nothing to do with Gus Dur
\n(Abdurrahman's nickname). It was a personal loan given by (former
\ndeputy Bulog chief) Sapuan, to me,\" Suwondo told city police
\nafter eight hours of questioning that began at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"I never claimed to be the President's personal assistant when
\nI asked for the Rp 35 billion loan, and it was not for use in
\nAceh.\"<\/p>\n
Suwondo, who police also identify as An Peng Sui, made the
\nstatements despite an official receipt from the Bulog employees
\nfoundation, Yanatera, bearing his signature below the title
\nPresident's personal assistant.<\/p>\n
The receipt has been handed over to the South Jakarta District
\nCourt as evidence.<\/p>\n
Rp 35 billion were withdrawn from Yanatera by defendant
\nSapuan, who claimed that he had done so at the behest of the
\nPresident. The funds were given to Suwondo via four Bank Bukopin
\nchecks, issued on Jan. 13 and Jan. 20 this year.<\/p>\n
Of the Rp 35 billion, Suwondo gave Rp 15 billion to Suko
\nSudarso, an official of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan), Rp 5 billion to businesswoman Siti
\nFarika and Rp 5 billion to Leo Purnomo, allegedly an employee of
\nthe Awair airline company whom police have been unable to find.<\/p>\n
Awair, formerly called A.W. Air, was jointly founded by
\nSuwondo, Abdurrahman and Rachmat Soebakir.<\/p>\n
At a Tuesday hearing of the Bulog trial, legislator Suko
\nSudarso looked uncomfortable when questioned about the Rp 15
\nbillion check he received.<\/p>\n
\"That check belonged to Hendri Arioseno, my friend, who
\nrefused to deposit the money into his Bank Bali account, since
\nthe bank had its own troubles,\" Suko, an official at the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), told
\nthe South Jakarta Court hearing presided over by Judge Lalu
\nMariyun.<\/p>\n
\"Hendri gave that check to me on Jan. 24. I deposited it in my
\nCitibank account on Jan. 26, and have long since returned the
\nmoney to Hendri. I'm not involved in this case,\" Suko said.<\/p>\n
Hendri Arioseno, a land broker, received a Rp 15 billion check
\nfrom Suwondo on Jan. 22 as payment for 100 hectares of land in
\nCianjur Selatan, West Java.<\/p>\n
Suko looked nervous when chief defense lawyer Muhammad Assegaf
\nasked him how he returned the Rp 15 billion to Hendri.<\/p>\n
\"I wrote out about 30 to 40 checks to Hendri between January
\nand June,\" Suko answered.<\/p>\n
Assegaf said: \"You told the hearing that in the three years
\nyou've known Hendri, he often asked you to clear his checks for
\nhim in your account. As a friend, didn't you ever advise Hendri,
\nto open his own account?\"<\/p>\n
Suko said that he eventually helped Hendri open an account at
\nBank Mandiri in June this year.<\/p>\n
Assegaf backtracked and asked him about the name on the Rp 15
\nbillion check.<\/p>\n
\"The name on that Bank Bukopin check, is yours. Not Hendri's
\nname ... but yours. Who wrote that name?\" Assegaf asked.<\/p>\n
Suko said: \"I did. Initially, there was no name on the check.
\nI filled out my own name.\"<\/p>\n
Assegaf asked whether Suko had only written checks to Hendri,
\nand nobody else. Suko nodded, but added that he had no proof of
\nthis.<\/p>\n
Assegaf asked Judge Lalu to request prosecutor Nulis
\nSembiring, to provide the court with the checks Suko claimed he
\nhad issued to Hendri. Nulis told the hearing that prosecutors had
\nnot confiscated those checks.<\/p>\n
Assegaf said it was crucial to find out the names on those
\nchecks in order to determine who else might have benefited from
\nthat money.<\/p>\n
Nulis responded that it was irrelevant to Sapuan's case, since
\nwhere the money went from Suko, had nothing to do with Sapuan.<\/p>\n
Another attraction at the hearing was Central Java-based
\nbusinesswoman, Siti Farikha, who testified that she received a Rp
\n5 billion check on March 13 -- one of the four checks Suwondo
\nreceived from Sapuan -- from Jakarta businessman, Aris Junaidi,
\nfor a business venture.<\/p>\n
At the Tuesday hearing, Siti, who has family links with the
\nNahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization -- formerly chaired by
\nAbdurrahman -- denied knowing that Aris is brother of Arifin
\nJunaidi, who was an NU official under Abdurrahman. (ylt\/jaw)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gus-dur-not-linked-to-bulog-scam-1447893297",
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