Achmad Ruskandar a new suspect in Bulog

Achmad Ruskandar a new suspect in Bulog

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Achmad Ruskandar, former deputy chief of finance at the State
Logistics Agency (Bulog), has been declared a suspect for
allegedly misusing some Rp 4.6 billion (US$446,600) in funds
belonging to the agency.

Director of investigations at the Attorney General's Office
Muchtar Arifin said that Ruskandar had officially been declared a
suspect on Wednesday. "He allegedly disbursed funds that exceeded
the amount requested by then president B.J. Habibie," Muchtar
told the media on Thursday.

"Pak Habibie admitted earlier that he had agreed to the
disbursement of Rp 50 billion in nonbudgetary funds, in line with
a decision made during a Cabinet meeting in 1999, but Pak Rahardi
ordered Ruskandar to disburse Rp 54.6 billion, of which Rp 4.6
billion were used for other purposes," Muchtar said.

Rahardi Ramelan, who has also been declared a suspect in the
case, was Bulog chief and minister of industry and trade at the
time.

Ruskandar, along with his former superior Rahardi, allegedly
disbursed the funds to procure goods in order to stabilize
prices, build stores and buy equipment, but there was no proper
record detailing how the funds had been used.

Ruskandar was once summoned by the Attorney General's Office
as a witness in the Rp 54.6 billion graft case implicating House
of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung. At the time, Ruskandar
made a most damaging revelation by saying that he personally had
handed over Rp 40 billion of the funds to Akbar.

Muchtar, however, emphasized that Ruskandar's alleged
involvement was definitely different to Akbar's.

Earlier in the day, a former senior Cabinet minister told
investigators that he had not recommended any contractor as
distributor of the foodstuffs for the poor in 1999 as Akbar --
who is also Golkar Chairman -- had claimed.

Former coordinating minister of people's welfare and poverty
alleviation, Haryono Suyono, was testifying in the investigation
into the Rp 54.6 billion graft case that has implicated Akbar.

Akbar is in trouble for allegedly siphoning off Rp 40 billion
of the nonbudgetary funds from Bulog for the Golkar Party's
campaigning activities while he was minister/state secretary
under Habibie in 1999.

In previous questioning, Akbar said that Haryono had
recommended that the Raudlatul Jannah Islamic Foundation handle
the project to provide food for the poor.

Haryono admitted to having signed a memo on Feb. 19, 1999 for
a certain project proposal but insisted it was "a polite
rejection". He also maintained that he had never heard of the
Raudlatul Jannah Foundation nor its chairman, Dadang Sukandar.

"It wasn't a letter of recommendation at all," he told
journalists after the two-hour questioning in which investigators
asked him 14 questions.

Haryono argued that the authority to appoint a contractor
remained with Akbar and with Rahardi as then minister of industry
and trade/Bulog chief.

"As a coordinating minister at the time, I was only
responsible for coordination among related ministries, without
any authority to make decisions or formulate policies," Haryono
said.

Haryono denied that he knew about the handing over of ten
checks for a total of Rp 40 billion from the agency to Dadang,
saying that he was on an overseas trip at the time.