Abda'oe detained for alleged role in oil scam
JAKARTA (JP): State prosecutors detained former president of state oil and gas company Pertamina Faisal Abda'oe on Wednesday for his alleged role in a corruption case related to a company partly owned by a son of former president Soeharto, Bambang Trihatmodjo.
The scandal resulted in US$24.8 million in state losses.
Attorney General's Office spokesman Muljohardjo said that investigators had found strong evidence of the suspect's involvement in irregularities in several memorandums of understanding which granted technical assistance contracts to privately owned construction firm PT Ustraindo Petro Gas in the early 1990s.
Most of the company's shares belong to Bambang Trihatmodjo.
"Abda'oe will be detained for 20 days, starting today," Muljohardjo told The Jakarta Post by phone.
Abda'oe, who arrived at the prosecutor's office at about 9 a.m. for questioning, was taken to a cell in the office's compound a few minutes before 8 p.m.
The investigation revealed that the deals between Pertamina and PT Ustraindo were a violation of regulations on technical assistance contracts because they covered oil fields which were still productive at the time.
Although the contracts required PT Ustraindo to pay the costs of oil development, it was Pertamina which paid the expenses, which caused losses of $18 million to the state.
The contracts covered oil fields in Bunyu, East Kalimantan, Prabumulih and Pendopo in South Sumatra, and Jatibarang on the north coast of West Java.
Ginandjar Kartasasmita, a minister of mines and energy during the period in question, has been also named a suspect in the case, along with his successor Ida Bagus Sudjana, and PT Ustraindo director Praptono H. Tjitrohupojo, a relative of the late former first lady Tien Soeharto.
Sudjana was named a suspect because in February and March 1995, he approved amendments to the contracts with PT Ustraindo, which resulted in a smaller government oil take, thereby causing another $6.8 million in losses to the state.
Sudjana had said he was under pressure from the president at the time, since most of the company's shares belonged to Soeharto's son Bambang.
So far, Bambang has not been questioned in connection with the case.
Ginandjar, a deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, has repeatedly denied the allegations. He is scheduled to be questioned on Thursday.
Abda'oe's lawyer, Kuntadi Nugroho, commented that the detention of his client was a political move on the part of the government.
"The detention of my client is politically motivated. We will prepare further defense against this," Kuntadi announced.
President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Monday in an interview with a number of Australian journalists that "the end of this month" was the deadline set for Attorney General Marzuki Darusman to detain three important people in corruption cases being handled by the prosecutor's office. Otherwise, he would be replaced.
Earlier on Wednesday, Soeripto, secretary-general of the Ministry of Forestry, submitted to the Attorney General's Office documents regarding the alleged involvement of tycoon Prajogo Pangestu in the marking up of a state loan.
In the early 1990s, Prajogo, in his capacity as the owner of timber company PT Musi Hutan Lestari, together with Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Rukmana, had allegedly claimed to manage a 193,500 hectare plantation in Kalimantan in order to obtain a Rp 346.8 billion (US$34.6 million) soft loan from the government's reforestation funds, Soeripto said.
"The money was disbursed soon after intervention from the state secretary. Until now, PT Musi has yet to recover the loan, which was due in July 1999.
"If it is possible, Prajogo should be detained right away," he told journalists before leaving the prosecutor's office in the afternoon. (bby)