Police name suspect in sugar scandal<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police named on Monday Abdul Waris Halid, head of general trade
\nat the Confederation of Primary Cooperatives Association (Inkud),
\na suspect in the smuggling of 56,000 tons of Thai sugar.<\/p>\n
"He is responsible for the illegal sugar because he made an
\nagreement with PT Phoenix as if on behalf of PTPN X. The police
\nare still questioning him. We will decide later if it is
\nnecessary to detain him," National Police Chief of Detectives
\nComr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono said, referring to one of five
\nregistered sugar importers.<\/p>\n
The police's decision came after questioning Abdul on three
\nseparate occasions.<\/p>\n
The police had also named Effedy Kemek, an employee of a
\nconsortium member, a suspect, and placed two others on their
\ninterrogation list.<\/p>\n
Suyitno said the police were still trying to locate the
\nwhereabouts of the two to help shed light on the case.<\/p>\n
Abdul's lawyer Eggi Sudjana defended his client, saying that
\nInkud was not involved in the documentation and storage process
\nbecause the five members of the consortium involved had taken
\ncare of operational matters for importing the sugar.<\/p>\n
He identified the members of the consortium as: PT Kencana
\nGula Manis, CV Surya Hendra Utama, PT Megaraya Sejahtera, PT
\nIroda Mas and UD Gunung Sewu.<\/p>\n
"The consortium was formed on the advice of the minister of
\nindustry and trade herself through the director general of
\ninternational trade Sudar SA. So, the consortium was legal," Eggi
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He asserted that PT Phoenix probably had no knowledge of the
\nconsortium because it had dealt only with Inkud. Eggi added that
\nthe consortium was established upon a contract between Inkud and
\nPTPN X, the state-owned company licensed to import sugar.<\/p>\n
Eggi was responding to a claim by Elza Syarief, the lawyer of
\nPT Phoenix, who said the company was unaware of the consortium
\nbecause it had a business relationship with Inkud only.<\/p>\n
In a press release, Elza said PT Phoenix did not tend to any
\ncustoms and excise documents after the sugar entered Indonesia.
\nShe argued that her client was a victim in the import deal,
\nbecause Inkud had not paid Phoenix for the sugar while the
\nincident had given the company a bad image.<\/p>\n
The police had said previously that fraudulent documents were
\nused to store the sugar in several local warehouses, while
\nCustoms and Excise director general Eddy Abdurrachman had
\nrevealed that the shipping documents had also been falsified,
\nmaking all the sugar illegal.<\/p>\n
Eggi insisted, however, that the sugar was all legitimate
\nbecause it was shipped before April 30, when PTPN X's import
\nlicense expired.<\/p>\n
He added that a meeting between Inkud chairman Nurdin Halid --
\nAbdul's elder brother -- and trade minister Rini M.S. Soewandi
\nwas witnessed by many people, including the ministry's Sudar,
\nsugar businessman Supit and the drivers of Rini and Nurdin.<\/p>\n
"The meeting took place at Rini's office to discuss how Inkud
\ncould obtain a license to import sugar. We have many witnesses...
\nThis is why we intend to sue Rini for denying that the meeting
\ntook place," said Eggi.<\/p>\n
He said Nurdin would report Rini to the police on Tuesday for
\ngiving false information to the public. The law stipulated that
\nshe could face a five-year sentence if found guilty, Eggi said.<\/p>\n
Last week, Rini denied that she had held a meeting with
\nNurdin, saying she did not know Nurdin personally nor did she
\nmeet with him to discuss a sugar import license.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-name-suspect-in-sugar-scandal-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}