City company sets out its story in land scandal

City company sets out its story in land scandal

JAKARTA (JP): City-owned property development company PD
Pembangunan Sarana Jaya (PSJ) spoke out on Monday to defend
itself amid the growing storm surrounding a fraud allegedly
perpetrated in association with the acquisition of 124.8 hectares
of land in Bogor.

The city administration paid Rp 12.6 billion (US$1.57 million)
for the land between 1994 and 1995.

PSJ spokesman Bambang Wahyu Purnomo said that employees of PT
Multan Ekadharma, a private firm which sold the land to the city,
had allegedly falsified legal ownership documents for the site
near Duren Mekar and Bojong Sari Lama villages in Sawangan,
Bogor.

Bambang made the remarks in response to reports that three top
executives of the city-owned Bank DKI were facing dismissal as
investigation of the fraud nears completion.

The city administration's reform team announced the discovery
and investigation of the land scam on Wednesday and alleged that
employees from Bank DKI and PD PSJ were involved.

Bambang said the fraud was uncovered when Sawangan district
head Nana Sudjana and Duren Mekar village head Titik Samyo
Laksana complained that they had not signed any documents
relating to the sale of the land.

"When PT Multan Ekadharma employees tried to extend permits
for the site in January 1995, they discovered the land
acquisition documents had been falsified," he said.

Agreement

Under the terms of the original agreement signed in 1993, PT
Multan Ekadharma was to sell Bank DKI and PD PSJ 150 hectares of
land. A housing complex for city administration employees was to
be built on the site.

PT Multan Ekadharma was appointed on the recommendation of the
Kilat Hasanuddin foundation, a group of retired high-ranking
military officers who were formerly posted in the now defunct
Hasanuddin General Reserve Command in Makassar, South Sulawesi,
Bambang explained.

Mulyono Tanuwijaya, the former director of the company, is
thought to have purchased the land in 1991, he said.

A price of Rp 18,000 per square metre was agreed to for the
site in July, running up a bill of Rp 12.6 billion for the city
administration, who financed the purchase.

Bambang said the private company was obliged to submit 207
original documents when the land was purchased.

The firm submitted all the required documents, including
original land ownership titles and property tax office references
stating the titles were original.

References issued by Duren Mekar village head on Aug. 26 and
Aug. 30, 1992 stating that sale of the site was not legally
disputed were handed over at the same time.

Bambang said that Mulyono has been named as a suspect in the
investigation and that the counterfeit documents were being
examined by National Police detectives. (ivy)