Akbar refused to issue receipts: Witness

Akbar refused to issue receipts: Witness

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Another cover-up attempt by corruption suspect Akbar Tandjung was
revealed on Monday after a witness told a court hearing that the
beleaguered Golkar chairman had refused to issue receipts for
checks he had received from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) in
1999.

Former Bulog financial bureau chief Yusnadi Suwarta said that
Akbar took eight checks, for a total of Rp 20 billion, on April
20, 1999, from Achmad Ruskandar, then Bulog's deputy for
financial affairs.

"When Pak Ruskandar asked for receipts for the checks, Pak
Akbar said, 'later'," Yusnadi told a court hearing held at the
Jakarta Fairground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

"I accompanied Pak Ruskandar to meet Pak Akbar at the Cabinet
secretary's office ... Akbar examined the checks .... It was a
brief meeting, lasting only about five or six minutes," he said.

Yusnadi's testimony corroborated Ruskandar's earlier
statements that the disgraced Golkar chairman was reluctant to
issue receipts for the first handover of two checks on March 2
and that receipts issued to Bulog were later retrieved by Akbar's
staff.

However, Akbar disputed the testimony, insisting that
Ruskandar had not asked for any receipt for the checks.

"I never said, 'later'," Akbar said.

The same court learned last week that Akbar and his lawyers
tried to coerce another suspect, Rahardi Ramelan, to lie during a
meeting held in October 2001 at Grand Mahakam hotel in South
Jakarta.

Using a story fabricated by Akbar's camp, Rahardi was to tell
state prosecutors that Akbar did not receive the money as the
funds were given directly to the little-known Raudlatul Jannah
Foundation. Rahardi reportedly rejected the proposal.

Akbar admitted the meeting with Rahardi and both lawyers, but
denied allegations that he had tried to compel Rahardi to accept
the scenario his camp had prepared.

"It was an ordinary meeting ... nothing important was
discussed," he said Monday.

The trial was adjourned to May 6 to hear testimonies from
Jakarta subdistrict officials regarding Suyanto, who allegedly
cashed the checks at several banks in Jakarta by using a fake
identification card.

The beleaguered Golkar chairman is currently on trial for
alleged corruption involving Rp 40 billion of Bulog funds and
could face up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.

He admitted last week that he had received funds, totaling Rp
40 billion, from Bulog to buy staple foodstuffs for distribution
to those most affected by the economic crisis in 1999.

However many believe the money found its way into Golkar's
coffers to bankroll the party's campaign in the 1999 general
election.