Eddy Tansil 'living in China'

Eddy Tansil 'living in China'

JAKARTA (JP): In a major corruption related development an
independent corruption watch dog announced on Monday it has
discovered escaped convict Eddy Tansil prospering in China after
fleeing a 17-year prison sentence in 1996.

The Movement of Concerned Citizens on State Assets (Gempita)
said Tansil was currently running a premium brewery under a
licensing agreement with Germany's Beck's Beer Co. in the city of
Putian, in Fujian province.

"The government, in this case the justice ministry, the
Attorney General's Office and the foreign ministry should
immediately contact the Chinese authorities and the authorities
in Fujian," Gempita said in a press release.

The group alleged that Tansil, who has not changed his name
since his escape and is known in China as "Mr. ET", wholly owns
the Putian Golden Key Brewery with an estimated investment of at
least US$ 10 million.

Tansil, 42, was serving the second year of a 17-year sentence
for corruption and violation of bank laws when he escaped.

He was found guilty of taking more than US$ 430 million in a
credit scam from the state Bapindo bank between 1989 and 1991 for
the construction of several chemical factories under his Golden
Key Group.

Gempita also accused Beck's of lacking in business ethics
because it dealt with a wanted criminal.

"This finding clearly shows that the multinational firm,
Beck's Beer Co. was unabashed in its flouting of ethics in order
to reap profits," even after widespread coverage of Tansil's
scam, the watch dog added in its media release.

Tansil had worked together with the German firm prior to his
arrest.

Earlier in the day, Minister of Justice Muladi said a team of
experts from the ministry would travel to Hong Kong and China to
discuss extradition treaties with the two countries.

"We are going to sign an extradition treaty with Hong Kong in
February," Muladi told an end of the year media conference at his
office in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

He called on Singapore to sign the treaty so Indonesia can
bring back "economic criminals" believed to have been taking
refuge in the island state.

The call for such a treaty was first aired last week by
Minister of Cooperatives Adi Sasono.

"I believe there are many economic criminals who have been
seeking refuge in Singapore but it is difficult for us to probe
since we do not have any extradition or mutual (legal) assistance
treaty with Singapore," Muladi said.

Muladi did not mention any names but defined economic
criminals as Indonesians who committed money laundering
activities in Singapore or were involved in cases of bank scams.

Muladi added he would meet with the Singapore Ambassador to
Indonesia within a day or two to discuss the matter.

"I will try to convince Singapore that we are not going to
interfere in their internal affairs but we only want to pursue
those who have inflicted financial losses upon Indonesia," Muladi
said.

Indonesia has signed extradition treaties with Australia,
Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.

One of the public demands leveled at President B.J. Habibie's
administration has been investigation into former president
Soeharto, who is widely accused of enriching his family and
friends during 32 years in power.

Also on Monday, State Minister of Agrarian Affairs Hasan Basri
Durin announced that Soeharto and his family control a total of
204,983 hectares of land with both land ownership certificates
and land utilization status.

Soeharto, for instance, controls 19 plots of land in Jakarta
and Central Java totaling 116,284 hectares. His late wife, Siti
Hartinah Soeharto, owned 13 plots of land in Jakarta, Yogyakarta,
West Java and Central Java.

Eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana controls 17 plots of
land in Jakarta and Central Java. Together with her husband Indra
Rukmana, she has another plot of land in North Sumatra.

Eldest son Sigit Hardjojudanto owns 19 plots of land scattered
throughout the country, second son Bambang has one plot of land
in Bali, second daughter Siti Hediati Hariyadi owns 13 plots of
land also in various provinces, and youngest daughter Siti Hutami
Endang Adiningsih owns 10 plots of land in Jakarta and West Java.

Youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra owns 19 plots of land, whose
total amount was three times bigger than the property controlled
by Soeharto, according to Durin as quoted by Antara. (byg/swe)