Eddy busted over lottery fraud

Eddy busted over lottery fraud

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office said on Friday it had detained PT
Sari Kebon Jeruk director Eddy Yowono on charges of embezzling Rp
40 billion (US$4.25 million) from the Social Welfare Foundation,
the former operator of a sports lottery.

Farried Harjanto, the head of the intelligence unit at the
prosecutor's office, said Eddy had been detained at Salemba
Penitentiary in Central Jakarta since April 4.

"We are detaining him pending the completion of his case
file ... it will soon be ready to be submitted to the court,
maybe in one or two weeks," he told The Jakarta Post.

The foundation's chairman, Mashud Wisnu Saputra, reported Eddy
to the police in 2002 for allegedly embezzling money from the
lottery in the early 1990s.

The lottery was later outlawed, along with all forms of
gambling.

Former city police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara ordered
Eddy's detention in 2002 at the start of the investigation, but
the suspect was released after a high-ranking official in the
city administration intervened on his behalf.

The police continued to process the case and recently
submitted it to prosecutors.

Eddy's company was recently appointed by the city
administration to handle the renovation of Tanah Abang market,
which was heavily damaged in a fire.

The renovation is underway despite protests by traders and
residents, who claim the project has caused flooding in the area.