Suspects confess to using fake documents<\/p>\n
P.C. Naommy, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Two suspects confessed on Wednesday to falsifying official
\ndocuments used to smuggle 73,000 tons of sugar into the country,
\npolice said.<\/p>\n
\"Both suspects have confessed they were involved in making
\nfake documents for the sugar importation,\" Brig. Gen. Samuel
\nIsmoko, a director of the National Police's Financial Crimes
\nDivision, said.<\/p>\n
Ismoko said Association of Village Cooperatives (Inkud)
\ngeneral trade division head Abdul Waris Halid and Effendy Kemek,
\nan employee of one of the five partner companies of the
\nconsortium formed by Inkud, had been in custody at National
\nPolice Headquarters for one day and six days respectively.<\/p>\n
He said police were still searching for two other suspects,
\nAndi Badar Saleh, a freelancer working for the consortium, and
\nconsortium chairman Jack Tamin, who were also allegedly involved
\nin faking the documents.<\/p>\n
Abdul's lawyer, Edison Bahaubun, denied the police's claims.<\/p>\n
\"I strongly deny the police's statement that said that my
\nclient was involved in providing fake documents for the
\nimportation. It's not true,\" Edison told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said police had asked his client about the fake documents
\nbut Adbul had told them he knew nothing about them because he was
\nnot directly involved in operational issues.<\/p>\n
Customs and Excise director general Eddy Abdurrachman said
\nhis office had discovered the bills of lading used by PT Phoenix
\nto apply for the warehousing of the sugar were fake.<\/p>\n
National Police have named eight suspects in the case. They
\nare Abdul and Effendy, Jack Tamin and Andi Badar Saleh who remain
\nat large and Phoenix director Raja Barnaje, who is currently in
\nThailand. The other three are high-ranking officials from the
\ncustoms and excise office in Tanjung Priok.<\/p>\n
Ismoko said police had questioned Wahyono, the head of the
\nservice division at Tanjung Priok customs and excise office, on
\nWednesday and were scheduled to question the head of the Tanjung
\nPriok investigation section, Yan Miral, on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n
Police have yet to set a questioning schedule for Muhammad
\nZein, the head of the investigation section at the customs
\noffice. They had not yet summoned Inkud chairman Nurdin Halid
\nover the case.<\/p>\n
Separately, Minister of Industry and Trade Rini MS Soewandi
\nreiterated her denial she met with Nurdin to discuss a sugar
\nimport license.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know him. Even if I had met him 20 times, it wouldn't
\nchange the problem. The problem has developed from a smuggling
\nissue into one of document forgery and the legal processes are
\ncurrently underway,\" Rini said at the Presidential Palace on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
Nurdin has filed a report with the National Police against
\nRini for libel.<\/p>\n
Police previously announced they had confiscated a total of
\n65,000 tons of the smuggled sugar from warehouses in Jakarta,
\nBekasi, Bogor, and in Makassar, South Sulawesi. Their
\ncalculations now indicate they have seized 73,000 tons.<\/p>\n
The illegal sugar has caused the price of Indonesian-made
\nsugar to fall far under its production cost to between Rp 3,200
\n(US 34 cent) and Rp 3,300, causing big losses to local producers.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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