Djunaidi arrested upon arrival
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A key suspect in an alleged graft case involving state insurance firm PT Jamsostek, Ahmad Djunaidi, has been arrested after evading a travel ban that allowed him to make a trip to Saudi Arabia for a minor haj pilgrimage.
Police arrested Djunaidi at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport early on Sunday soon after his arrival from Saudi Arabia. He was taken to the National Police Headquarters for questioning.
Spokesman for the Directorate General of Immigration Supriatna Anwar said that head of the immigration office at the Indonesian Consulate in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, Aslim, had tracked down Djunaidi and sent him back to Jakarta.
"The immigration officers located him and brought him home on Saturday night and he arrived at Soekarno-Hatta airport on 2:35 p.m. today (Sunday)," Supriatna told The Jakarta Post.
The operation came after Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh expressed anger at the immigration office's failure to prevent Djunaidi from leaving the country last Wednesday despite a travel ban.
Djunaidi, who was the former director at PT Jamsostek, was declared a suspect two weeks ago in connection with the alleged misuse of over Rp 250 billion (US$26.3 million) in workers' money.
The Attorney General's Office issued a travel ban against him last Monday, but he managed to leave the country on Wednesday night.
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin, who oversees the Directorate General of Immigration, blamed the incident on the immigration office.
Abdul Rahman complained directly to Hamid, saying similar incidents had happened three times since he took office last October.
Head of the interdepartmental anticorruption team Hendarman Supandji, who is also deputy attorney general for special crimes, told the Post that Djunaidi would undergo questioning at the National Police Headquarters immediately after his arrival.
Deputy team head Brig. Gen. Indarto, who is also the anticorruption director at the National Police Headquarters, confirmed that Djunaidi was being questioned.
However, Indarto said he did not know whether police investigators would detain Djunaidi, especially after he managed to escape the travel ban.
"We will decide on that matter after 24 hours of questioning, which is now in progress," Indarto said.
Djunaidi and a former investment director at the company, Andi Alamsyah, are suspected of causing state losses through their investment decisions, including the purchase of Rp 100 billion in bonds issued by the now defunct Bank Global, Rp 105.5 billion in bonds from a company identified as PT SIP and the provision of a Rp 49.2 billion loan to a company identified as PT V, which were deemed blunders.