AGO to bring Bapepam chief to court
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has vowed to send a corruption case involving Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) chairman Herwidayatmo to court before the possible presidential election runoff in September.
AGO spokesman Kemas Yahya told The Jakarta Post during the weekend that a team of prosecutors were in the process of finalizing the case, which would be delivered to the court as soon as possible.
"We are hoping to conclude (the case) before the runoff of the presidential election in September, with Herwidayatmo and former minister of state enterprises Tanri Abeng as the main suspects." The office had been investigating the case since 2002, Kemas said.
The AGO declared Herwidayatmo a suspect in October last year, while Tanri was named in January, 2002, he said.
The corruption case centers on the sale of the government's 51 percent stake in container terminal PT Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) in 1999, which the office charges was not conducted in accordance with regulations.
Grosbeak Pte Ltd., a unit of the world's largest independent container port operator Hutchison Port Holdings, won the sale and paid US$215 million for the stake.
However, according to reports, which have yet to confirmed by Grosbeak, only $190 million of the total $215 million paid by the firm went into the state's coffers, with the remaining $25 million left in a JICT bank account for an unclear purpose.
"The state has suffered at least Rp 12.9 billion ($1.5 million) in losses due to the sale," said Kemas without elaborating.
During JICT's privatization process, Tanri was the state minister for state enterprises, while Herwidayatmo was his deputy in charge of privatization.
Herwidayatmo confirmed recently he was a suspect in the case but said he would only step down as chairman of Bapepam if there was a guilty verdict from the court, or if Minister of Finance Boediono ordered him to do so.
"I did my job (at the time) based on my authority and orders from my superior... I will not resign unless Minister of Finance Boediono orders me to do so," said Herwidayatmo after a seminar on Friday.
"The AGO questioned me long time ago and I have explained the case to them... I deny the charges here, and I think you (reporters) know more. I will certainly abide by (any legal decision) because I am a good citizen," he said.
Bapepam is under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance.
Separately, Tanri also denied the corruption charges, saying there were no losses to the state.
"There have been no violations by me or Herwidayatmo. The State Comptroller (BPKP) has declared no losses to the state during the privatization," Tanri said.
"The case has been going on for so long because the AGO has insufficient evidence to bring us to court. They are afraid of being humiliated if they drop (the case) after declaring us suspects," he said.