Abda'oe detained for alleged role in oil scam

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)