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.