North Sulawesi governor faces corruption charges<\/p>\n
Yongker Rumthe, The Jakarta Post, Manado<\/p>\n
North Sulawesi Governor A.J. Sondakh and other senior local
\nofficials are facing a corruption probe into the alleged
\nembezzlement of the interest on Rp 101 billion that has been
\ndeposited in state-owned banks since 2000.<\/p>\n
The money originally came from emergency funds allocated for
\n1999 and 2000, transfers from the general allocation fund, and
\nsupplemental budgets for North Sulawesi between 1999 and 2001.<\/p>\n
Under Bylaw No. 151\/1999 issued by the provincial
\nadministration, such funds cannot be deposited in banks.<\/p>\n
Sondakh and other senior local government officials are
\naccused of pocketing the interest on the deposits as there were
\nno reports that it had ever been channeled to the administration.<\/p>\n
Nor did Sondakh mention the bank deposits in his recent
\naccountability report, strengthening allegations that he had
\nembezzled the money deposited in Bank Mandiri and the North
\nSulawesi Bank.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by his lawyer, Jemmy Lelet, Sondakh was grilled
\nfor 21 hours over two consecutive days starting last Thursday by
\ninvestigators at North Sulawesi Police headquarters over the
\nscandal.<\/p>\n
The investigation followed the approval for Sondakh's
\nquestioning by President Megawati Soekarnoputri in July.<\/p>\n
\"We have investigated A.J. Sondakh as a witness and presented
\nhim with 132 questions,\" North Sulawesi Police detectives chief
\nHalba Nugroho told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said the governor was \"cooperative\" in facing the
\ninvestigation and had made no difficulties.<\/p>\n
Nugroho said that whether Sondakh would be named as a suspect
\nstill depended on an evaluation of the inquiry outcome this week.<\/p>\n
North Sulawesi Deputy Governor Freddy H. Sualang, as well as
\nthe former secretary of the provincial administration J.F.
\nMailangkay and local acting treasurer Theis Tumakaka have also
\nbeen questioned over the case.<\/p>\n
Only Mailangkay and Theis have been declared suspects.<\/p>\n
At least Rp 29 billion out of the bank deposits had been used
\nto pay last year's salaries of local state teachers while the
\nremaining Rp 72 billion was seized by the police as evidence in
\nthe investigation.<\/p>\n
Nugroho said the seizure was made after the police obtained an
\norder from the Manado District Court in the middle of last month.<\/p>\n
The deposit scandal was first revealed by Freddy, who also
\nchairs the province's chapter of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\nof Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), and other local party executives,
\nBenny Rhamdani and Roy Maningakas.<\/p>\n
Freddy claimed that he only found out about the Rp 101 billion
\nin bank deposits after reading a report by the local internal
\nsupervisory board.<\/p>\n
Rhamdani lamented the move to deposit the money in banks
\nbetween 1999 and 2001, saying that at the time North Sulawesi was
\nin dire need of funds, forcing the local administration to set up
\na team to seek money from the central government. He did not
\nelaborate further.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/north-sulawesi-governor-faces-corruption-charges-1447893297",
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