Sapuan acted 'beyond authority'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Former Bulog deputy chief Sapuan acted beyond
\nhis authority when he ordered the State Logistics Agency's
\nemployee foundation to release Rp 35 billion to a close
\nconfidante of President Abdurrahman Wahid, an investigator said
\non Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Djamalsyah Effendi Wahab, a former comptroller with Bulog,
\ntold the South Jakarta District Court that according to the
\nfoundation's statutes, Sapuan should have consulted the
\nsupervisory body before giving such an order in January.<\/p>\n
Sapuan should also have called for a meeting to discuss the
\ndisbursement of such a huge sum of money, Djamalsyah said.<\/p>\n
Sapuan, 57, who has since lost his job at Bulog, has been
\ncharged with embezzling the foundation's money.<\/p>\n
Insisting he is innocent, he has said that he ordered the
\nmoney to be released to Suwondo, Abdurrahman's masseur, in the
\nbelief that the President had personally asked for the money to
\nbe used for a government humanitarian program in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Suwondo, who is wanted by the police in connection with the
\nscam, has been at large since the scandal became public in April.<\/p>\n
Acknowledging that Sapuan was managing Bulog's day-to-day
\noperation on behalf of the agency's chief Jusuf Kalla, who was
\nthen also the minister of industry and trade, Djamalsyah said the
\nauthority did not extend to principled matters, like the
\ndisbursement of huge sums of money.<\/p>\n
Three other foundation executives presented to the court by
\nthe prosecutors, however, testified on Tuesday that Sapuan had
\nfull authority from Jusuf Kalla to manage Bulog.<\/p>\n
Muhamad Yacob Ishak (treasurer), Istiah (administration staff)
\nand Jaborotan Nasution (secretary) all recalled Jusuf Kalla's
\nstatement on Dec. 22 before Bulog executives that he was
\nentrusting the day-to-day running of the agency to Sapuan.<\/p>\n
Both Yacob and Jaborotan retracted written statements they
\ngave to the police earlier in which they said the disbursement
\nviolated procedures.<\/p>\n
Yacob said the police had managed to recover Rp 16.5 billion
\nof the money, including Rp 10 billion returned by Suwondo's wife.<\/p>\n
Government prosecutors have also confiscated assets belonging
\nto Suwondo, including the title to 200 hectares of land in
\nCianjur, West Java, and three luxury cars.<\/p>\n
Two of the cars were on display in the court's parking lot.<\/p>\n
The panel of judges ordered the prosecutors on Tuesday to
\ntransfer the Rp 16.5 billion money to the court's bank account.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Lalu Mariyun, who last week dismissed the
\ncorruption trial of former president Soeharto on grounds of ill
\nhealth, adjourned the trial until next Tuesday. (01)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sapuan-acted-beyond-authority-1447893297",
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