AGO cancels probe into high-profile graft cases
AGO cancels probe into high-profile graft cases
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has decided to halt its
investigation into alleged corruption by former strongman
Soeharto's cronies Prajogo Pangestu and Djoko Ramiadji, and his
daughter Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana.
Meanwhile, the AGO has also decided to charge former state
minister for state-owned enterprises Tanri Abeng for alleged
corruption involving seaport operator PT Pelindo II.
Untung Udji Santoso, director of investigation at the special
crimes division of the AGO, said on Thursday that the decision to
drop corruption cases against Soeharto's cronies and daughter was
taken recently.
Untung said the investigation into the role of business tycoon
Prajogo in an alleged mark-up at the Industrial Forest Estate
(HTI) in South Sumatra was halted in June after his office had
established that the state suffered no losses.
Prajogo, as the director of HTI developer PT Menara Hutan
Buana, was declared a corruption suspect after he had allegedly
marked up the size of lands managed by his company to 193,500
hectares from the original 118,000 hectares in order to procure
more reforestation funds.
Untung said the accusation was proven to be unfounded, as the
latest aerial survey by the National Survey and Charting
Coordination Agency (Bakosurtanal) showed that there was no mark
up in the reforestation work carried out Prajogo's company.
He said his office had also stopped investigating the
corruption case involving Djoko Ramiadji, the director of toll
road company PT Marga Nurindo Bhakti.
Djoko, who was once named a suspect in the case, was
exonerated from further legal prosecution after AGO investigators
found that he did not sign a falsified commercial paper on the
development of the Cawang-Tanjung Priok and Pondok Pinang-
Jagorawi toll roads (JORR) in Jakarta, which started in the early
1990s.
As for Tutut's case, which evolved around a failed
construction of fuel pipelines, Untung said investigators found
no irregularities in the case.
Tutut, as the commissioner of construction company PT Triharsa
Bimanusa Tunggal, was accused of corruption after the company
stopped halfway the construction of fuel pipelines in Central
Java in 1992, and yet demanded a compensation of US$31.49 million
from state-owned oil company Pertamina, which it received.
As for Tanri Abeng's case, which occurred in the late 1990s,
Untung said investigators were still following up on the case,
and that the dossier of the case was being drafted.
Tanri has been accused of abusing his position in appointing
global coordinators for the privatization of PT Jakarta
International Container Terminal (JICT), a subsidiary of PT
Pelindo II.
Separately, an anticorruption activist with the Indonesian
Corruption watch (ICW), Iskandar Sonhadji, lashed out at the
AGO's habit to produce decisions that were against the people's
aspirations.
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No. Names Cases Alleged State Losses
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1. Prajogo Pangestu HTI South Sumatra Rp 159 billion
2. Djoko Ramiadji JORR toll road Rp 811 billion
3. Siti Hardiyanti Java pipelines US$31.49 million
4. Tanri Abeng PT PELINDO II Rp 12.9 b (US$1.6m)
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Source: AGO