Perhutani president grilled over alleged scams<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The president director of ailing state-owned forestry firm PT
\nPerhutani, Marsanto, was questioned by police on Wednesday as a
\nwitness in two corruption cases.<\/p>\n
The company's director of planning and development, Bambang
\nAji, was questioned on Wednesday as a suspect in both cases.<\/p>\n
"We suspect him in two separate corruption cases that caused
\nmassive losses to the state," said a police source.<\/p>\n
The source said the first case was related to several PR
\nprojects being carried out by Perhutani. The projects, costing Rp
\n43.4 billion, were part of efforts to improve the company's
\ncorporate image.<\/p>\n
Police allege the projects were never implemented and were
\ncreated solely to siphon off the company's net profit of Rp 111
\nbillion. The projects were announced after the government issued
\na decree converting the company from a non-profit to a profit-
\noriented firm.<\/p>\n
Most of the projects never materialized and police believe the
\nmoney earmarked for them was embezzled, the police source said.<\/p>\n
The source said the second corruption case involved
\nPerhutani's joint project with German-based Global Marketing for
\nthe marketing of its products.<\/p>\n
"The management stopped the project before it was fully
\nmaterialized, claiming it was a failure.<\/p>\n
"As the president director, Marsanto was in a position to be
\naware of the projects. But we have no witnesses to confirm the
\nallegations. That is why we are still interrogating him
\n(Marsanto) as a witness," the police source said.<\/p>\n
The source said those in the firm were being tight-lipped over
\nthe cases, making the investigation difficult.<\/p>\n
Perhutani's status was changed from a non-profit firm to a
\nprofit-oriented one in 2001 during the administration of
\npresident Abdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
The move was aimed at lifting the cash-strapped company out of
\nfinancial difficulties, which owed to the shortage of timber on
\nJava and Madura. Perhutani manages forest areas on both islands.<\/p>\n
The government reversed Perhutani's status back to that of a
\nnon-profit firm after the Supreme Court annulled the previous
\ngovernment decree.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/perhutani-president-grilled-over-alleged-scams-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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