Attorney general grilled over wealth report

Attorney general grilled over wealth report

Muhammad Nafik and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

Criticized for his poor performance in dealing with corruption
cases, Attorney General M.A. Rachman was quizzed by the Public
Servant's Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) on Wednesday over
allegations that he concealed some of his assets in his wealth
report.

Rachman was summoned to clarify the wealth report that the
commission considered had several discrepancies upon
verification.

Among other questions raised before Rachman was the finding of
a luxury house worth around Rp 5 billion located at Jl. Penida
10, Graha Cinere housing complex in Limo subdistrict, Depok, West
Java, believed to belong to the attorney general.

This asset was not listed in his wealth report submitted to
the commission.

Later in the day, Rachman was summoned by President Megawati
Soekarnoputri at her residence on Jl. Teuku Umar. Finance
minister Boediono accompanied Rachman during the meeting.

The tightly guarded Rachman had little to say when journalists
thronged him upon arrival at the KPKPN office in Central Jakarta.
He only said he complied with the summons for questioning about
the luxury house.

Petrus Selestinus, who is among the five KPKPN members who
questioned Rachman, told The Jakarta Post that the attorney
general gave conflicting statements during questioning.

He said Rachman admitted that he had bought the house on Nov.
29, 1999 when serving as deputy attorney general for general
crimes.

But the attorney general converted its ownership on Oct. 10,
2000 to his daughter, Chairunnisa, who in January this year sold
it to businessman Hussein Tanoto, Petrus quoted him as saying.

Despite claiming to have sold the house to Tanoto, Rachman
admitted the house remains under Chairunnisa's name, and that she
was building a swimming pool there, according to Petrus and his
colleague Soekotjo Soeparto.

Soekotjo revealed that based on documents, Rahman only shifted
the possession of the house to Chairunnisa -- not the title to
its ownership as he claimed -- before selling it to Hussein for
Rp 950 million.

Asked how Rahman could afford to buy such a huge, luxury
house, Petrus said: "He told us that the money was received in
the form of gifts given during the wedding ceremony of his second
daughter."

Soekotjo said Chairunnisa will be summoned to verify her
father's statement and to find out why she sold the house for
only Rp 950 million, while the 825 square meters of land alone,
on which the house stands, is worth more than Rp 1 billion based
on a gross calculation.

Rachman was also grilled about his bank deposits of Rp 545.6
million and US$29,600 amassed between 1998 and 2000 as his
monthly salary as a deputy attorney general of general crimes at
the time was only Rp 5.9 million.

Rachman explained that the deposits were collected from "years
of his family's savings and other sources, including tips from
East Java businessmen" whom the attorney general claimed had
nothing to do with cases he dealt with, Soekotjo said.

Rachman was head of the East Java Prosecutor's Office before
assuming duties in Jakarta in 1999.

Also under scrutiny were his five other houses: two in Bekasi,
West Java, two in Sumenep on East Java's Madura Island, and
another one in Sidoarjo, also in East Java.

Following public tip-offs, the KPKPN investigators also
questioned Rachman's relations with Hussein, whose son Suryo was
reportedly once a middleman for cases when the attorney general
was serving as head of the East Java Prosecutor's Office.

Rachman admitted having known Suryo for four years, but denied
media reports on Suryo, said Soekotjo.

The attorney general, who is responsible for dealing mainly
with the country's widespread corruption, came under fire for
hosting a lavish wedding reception for his daughter last July.

Rachman has come under fire for having taken too much time to
complete investigations and failing to show a consistent policy
for treating alleged corruptors with the various sentencing
demands proposed to the courts.