Ex-Bulog chief Beddu put on wanted list
Ex-Bulog chief Beddu put on wanted list
Sandy Darmosumarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
National Police Headquarters ordered on Saturday an all-out hunt
for Beddu Amang, the former head of the State Logistics Agency
(Bulog), and one of prime suspects in the alleged misuse of Rp
841 billion (US$99 million) in livestock feed subsidies provided
by the state.
Deputy director of the National Police's graft unit, Sr. Comr.
Marsudi Hanafi, said on Saturday that the National Police had
sent out a special team led by a one-star police general to check
out locations where Beddu might be, including hospitals and a
number of houses that Beddu owns.
National Police Headquarters had also alerted provincial
police headquarters to help in the search for Beddu, including
Riau and South Sulawesi Police Headquarters.
"We are putting him into our wanted list as of today," Marsudi
told reporters at his office.
Beddu was put on the wanted list only a day after a team of
investigators and physicians went to Beddu's residence in Jakarta
to confirm whether he was really ill.
Beddu was supposed to come to National Police Headquarters on
Friday to be questioned as a suspect in the graft case. But he
failed to turn up, sending his lawyer with a doctor's certificate
saying he was ill instead.
Apparently the police had doubts that Beddu was sick, and sent
a team of officers and the physicians to question him at his
home.
However, Beddu had already left home early on Friday morning,
adding to police suspicions that he was attempting to evade
justice.
His whereabouts are still unknown.
The graft case began in 1997 when the directorate general of
animal husbandry asked the government to provide subsidies for
domestic animal breeders following the sharp rise in livestock
feed prices. At that time, the economic crisis was in full swing
and the breeders could not afford to buy imported animal feed.
So, the government asked Bulog to import raw materials for animal
feed in collaboration with the directorate general of animal
husbandry. The feed was then to be sold cheaply to breeders.
But Bulog instead let four private sector companies handle
distribution and sales. These companies sold the animal feed for
more than Rp 3,000 per kilogram, much higher than the price of
only Rp 1,200 per kilogram set by the government. As a result the
state incurred losses of Rp 841 billion.