Former Head of the Defence Facilities Agency at the Ministry of\nDefence, Rear Admiral TNI (Ret.) Leonardi, claims he was trapped into\nsigning a contract with Navayo International AG related to the\nprocurement of a satellite in the 123 degrees East longitude orbital\nslot.<\/p>\n
This was stated during the trial examining former Director General of\nDefence Planning (Renhan) Muhammad Syaugi at the High Military Court II\nin Jakarta on Tuesday (5\/5).<\/p>\n
In the trial, Leonardi, as the committing officer (PPK), felt\ndeceived because he was not informed that the project budget, initially\nincluded in the Budget Implementation List (DIPA) in 2016, was\nsubsequently self-blocked by witness Syaugi.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did the witness submit a self-blocking letter to the Ministry of\nFinance that was so crucial and impacted the programme, without copying\nit to me?\u201d Leonardi said to Syaugi.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Syaugi assessed that he had no obligation to report and\nbelieved Leonardi was aware of the self-blocking through staff and\nsubordinates in the Renhan division.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not true, so the question should be directed to the\nSecretary General of the Ministry of Defence. The one who determines the\nself-blocking. So the question is not appropriate to ask me. Why did I\ndo the self-blocking?\u201d Syaugi replied.<\/p>\n
Syaugi admitted that he received instructions from the Secretary\nGeneral of the Ministry of Defence in 2016, Widodo, to prepare a\nself-blocking letter and send it to the Ministry of Finance. He\nconsidered that no copy was needed to the defendant because it was\ndeemed in accordance with procedure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf procurement is to proceed, the study must be clear, supporting\ndata must be available, and it must be reviewed by BPKP. At that time,\nthere was none, so the budget was blocked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He stated that the reason for returning the budget to the state was\ndue to Presidential Instruction Number 8 of 2016 regarding financial\nsavings. Syaugi said that regulation was the basis for self-blocking the\nbudget item for the 123 BT orbital slot satellite procurement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were told to save 7.9 trillion. The contents are up to us which\nones to cut,\u201d said Syaugi.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Leonardi assessed that the self-blocking should have\nbeen aimed at preventing the use of funds for unproductive goods\nexpenditure to achieve savings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe savings target should be on unproductive goods expenditure such\nas official travel, meeting packages, team honoraria, and non-urgent\noffice building construction, not satellites,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, former Director General of Defence Forces (Kuathan) Major\nGeneral TNI (Ret.) Bambang Hartawan denied ever instructing witness Jon\nKennedy Ginting to sign a Certificate of Performance (CoP) leading to an\ninvoice for the procurement of goods from Navayo supervisor.<\/p>\n
The Navayo CoP document is an agreement required to issue an invoice\nor billing letter from Navayo. He also stated that it was impossible to\nprovide feasibility study data for the satellite procurement project in\none month.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegarding supporting data, in that short time we did not have a\nbudget to conduct a feasibility study. For a programme of that size, we\ncertainly need consultants, experts, and so on. That requires costs,\nwhere does the budget come from?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On the same occasion, defendant Thomas Anthony Van Der Heyden\nemphasised that he was only involved in technical aspects and as a\nliaison between the Ministry of Defence and suppliers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI work on technical aspects and act as an intermediary between the\nMinistry of Defence and the suppliers. I was invited based on needs when\nthere are technical questions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also claimed not to be involved in strategic discussion meetings,\nincluding those related to budgets or programme management. Thomas added\nthat his involvement was limited and not part of the main project\ndecision-making structure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not have complete information about all the meetings that took\nplace, except when I am invited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the indictment letter, the prosecutor stated that the project\ncontinued to run since 2015 even though it did not have budget\nallocation in the Budget Implementation List (DIPA).<\/p>\n
Leonardi is said to have signed the satellite procurement contract\nwith Airbus Defence and Space for US$495 million. This action is\nconsidered to violate regulations because it was done without the\navailability of state budget.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor stated that the project then became problematic\nbecause the government was deemed not to fulfil payment obligations. The\nfailure to pay these obligations led Gabor to file an international\narbitration lawsuit at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).<\/p>\n
The arbitration ruling resulted in a payment obligation for the state\nof US$20,901,209.9 plus interest of US$483,642.74. Converted to rupiah\nbased on the December 2021 exchange rate, the state loss amounts to\nRp306 billion.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/leonardi-claims-he-was-trapped-into-signing-navayo-contract-in-satellite-corruption-case-1778162127", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }