Bambang grilled over his alleged $3 billion fortune

JAKARTA (JP): Bambang Trihatmodjo, the second eldest son of former president Soeharto, was questioned at the Attorney General's Office on Friday morning over his alleged US$3 billion wealth reported in Time magazine.

Attired in a dark blue suit and surrounded by more than 10 plainclothes bodyguards, the 46-year-old owner of the widely diversified Bimantara Group was questioned for five hours.

His father appeared a day earlier at the same office to give his power of attorney to the government to investigate Time's report of an alleged $9 billion transferred in his name.

Bambang and his entourage, including his lawyers Juan Felix Tampubolon and Indiarto Senoadji, arrived in a Mercedes Benz and a Mercedes Benz jeep shortly before 9 a.m.

Following questioning, Bambang said: "Most of the data in the (Time) report is incorrect. Only a small part of it is true."

He said he was asked 18 questions based on the Time report.

In its May 24 Asian edition, the magazine said Bambang possesses wealth estimated at $3 billion, including an $8.2 million apartment in Singapore and a $12 million mansion in an exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Juan Felix said the only accurate part of the report was Bambang's 38 percent share in Bimantara Group. The magazine reported Bambang's shareholding in Bimantara Citra, a subsidiary of Bimantara.

The rest, he said, was untrue.

Before leaving, Bambang said: "I'll meet requests for further questioning anytime."

Spokesman for the Attorney General's Office Soehandoyo said the preliminary questioning only focused on Bambang and was not directly related to his father.

He disclosed that Soeharto's five other children also would be summoned.

"The links (to Soeharto) will be determined later after all the questioning of Pak Harto's children is completed," he said.

The magazine reported that the former first family has an estimated $15 billion amassed during Soeharto's 32 years in power.

It also said that about $9 billion was transferred from a bank in Switzerland to one in Austria in Soeharto's name shortly after he resigned the presidency in May 1998.

Soeharto on Thursday denied having any money abroad, including in Austria. He presented a letter giving power of attorney to Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib to assist in President B.J. Habibie's efforts to find and recover any money in banks abroad which was in his name.

Habibie has ordered Ghalib and Minister of Justice Muladi to check with the authorities in Austria and Switzerland on the Time report about the huge fund transfer.

Accompanied by three banking officials, they are scheduled to leave for Europe on Sunday.

Some political figures and critics believe the trip is merely an effort by Habibie's administration to polish its image after criticism it was sluggish in investigating Soeharto.

"It will only raise Habibie's image in the eyes of the public who, might consider him to be serious in the probe," political observer Arbi Sanit said.

He said the trip would be useless since the banks in the two countries "will be reluctant to open Soeharto's account if his status under the law is unclear".

Many politicians are supporting a harder line in investigating Soeharto until the truth of the allegations is determined.

Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung also has called for tougher measures, urging city arrest for Soeharto until the matter is cleared up.

"If the case is not settled before the next People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)'s General Session, it would pose a stumbling block to President Habibie in presenting his accountability speech to the MPR," he was quoted by Antara as saying before a campaign rally at Sriwedari Stadium in Central Java on Thursday.

He considered city arrest or a tight security detail around the former president as effective.

Chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Megawati Soekarnoputri said: "What the government really needs is the seriousness to conduct the investigation."

She warned that Indonesia's judicial image would suffer both domestically and internationally if the case remained unsolved.

National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais said the investigation was "playacting " as long as Soeharto's legal status was still as a witness and not a suspect.

"Soeharto must therefore be cooperative, while Ghalib must remain firm in the investigation," Amien told about 30,000 supporters at Pancasila Stadium in Surabaya, East Java, on Friday.

PAN secretary-general Faisal Basri said that the trip of Muladi and Ghalib was more evidence of the government's stilted formal approach to handling the matter.

"The substance of the problem remains blurred," Faisal said.

Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, the director of the Institute for Policy, Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), added: "Ghalib's office should also investigate the misuse of state funds by his children, like how they obtained credit from some banks, how they utilized the money and whether there were markups in the funds."

Founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB) Abdurrahman Wahid said Soeharto must be brought to trial in order to settle his responsibility over allegations during his tenure.

The courtroom was the place to decide his guilt, Gus Dur said on the sidelines of campaigning in Yogyakarta. (01/imn/nur/emf/23)