Beddu faces years in jail for Bulog land scam
Beddu faces years in jail for Bulog land scam
Muniggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Former chief of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Beddu Amang
is facing a possible sentence of four years in jail for allegedly
causing some Rp 95.4 billion (US$9.54 million) in state losses in
a corrupt land swap deal.
State prosecutors are also asking for Beddu to be required to
return Rp 39.3 billion to the state and pay an additional Rp 10
million fine.
The request was made in a 400-page report read by prosecutors
Fachmi, Sulaeman Hadjarati and Surung Aritonang, at the South
Jakarta District Court on Thursday.
"Beddu Amang illegally abused his authority in order to
accumulate wealth for himself and other parties..." Surung told
the court, which was presided over by Judge Lalu Mariyun.
Beddu, 63, appeared bored during the nearly 4-hour hearing and
stayed calm throughout.
After the trial, however, he expressed his disappointment of
the sentencing demand.
"Prosecutors did not seem to consider evidence or witnesses,"
Beddu told reporters.
Prosecutors said Beddu had violated his authority as Bulog
chief by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a land
swap deal between the agency and PT Goro Batara Sakti on Feb. 17,
1995, only two days after he was assigned to become the agency's
chief.
The now infamous son of former President Soeharto, Hutomo
"Tommy" Mandala Putra owned 80 percent of PT Goro, while the rest
belonged to Ricardo Gelael, the company's then-president
director.
The MoU stipulated that PT Goro would provide 125 hectares of
land in an area in Bekasi to exchange it with Bulog's 48 hectares
of land in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.
PT Goro decided later to exchange it for 60 hectares in
Marunda, North Jakarta. The transaction would be managed by a
third party, businessman Hokiarto, whose company was a Bulog
partner for years.
Since PT Goro did not have funds to buy the land, Ricardo
asked Beddu to underwrite a Rp 20 billion loan from Bank Bukopin
with Bulog funds of Rp 23 billion. Beddu approved the request.
Beddu also gave Rp 32.5 billion to Hokiarto, who claimed that
PT Goro did not pay enough money for the land.
PT Goro was also allowed to utilize Bulog warehouses, which
accounted for Rp 40 billion in losses for the agency.
But PT Goro refused to pay the debt to Bank Bukopin when the
MoU was canceled later in 1998, since Tommy and Ricardo sold PT
Goro to the cooperative body Inkud for some Rp 76 billion. Inkud
paid some Rp 46 billion back to the state later.
The Supreme Court had sentenced Tommy to 18 months in jail for
his part in the land swap scandal, but last week he was
exonerated from all corruption charges.