Ex-Bulog chief questioned, net closing on Akbar

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The two central figures in the Rp 54.6 billion State Logistics Agency (Bulog) scandal switched roles during legal proceedings of the case.

Former chief of Bulog, Rahardi Ramelan was questioned on Thursday as a key witness for the newly-named suspect, Akbar Tandjung.

Last year, Akbar -- the House of Representatives Speaker and Golkar Party chief, was questioned as a witness in a proceeding that had Rahardi as the prime suspect.

Rahardi was one of seven witnesses that the Attorney General's Office investigators questioned to shed light on the role that Akbar played in the alleged misuse of Rp 40 billion of Bulog funds.

Investigators were attempting to trace where the non-budgetary state funds had been channeled. The premise is that Akbar, the former state/Cabinet secretary, siphoned it off to Golkar for its 1999 election campaign.

Rahardi revealed that he took orders directly from then- president B.J. Habibie in 1999 to disburse the money for an aid project.

Rahardi said that the money was sent in the form of checks to the Office of the State Secretary in two batches. The first Rp 20 billion was handed to the Office in March, while the remaining Rp 20 billion in April of 1999.

Akbar's case is an integral part of the Rp 54.6 billion corruption case with Rahardi as the prime suspect. The Rp 40 billion, according to Rahardi, was disbursed as part of the government social safety net program (JPS).

Habibie, in separate questioning, has explained that he ordered Akbar to coordinate the program -- although he was not one of the officials responsible for JPS -- in order to insure "better efficiency".

The project was handled by the privately-run Raudlatul Jannah Foundation with help from several contractors, whom Akbar claimed had delivered more than 16 million food packages in five provinces throughout Java.

The investigators have found no evidence that the food packages were ever sent.

The same team of investigators, led by Manaf Djubaedi, has also named Bulog's deputy chief of finance at the time Achmad Ruskandar, as a suspect, along with the Foundation's chairman Dadang Sukandar and one of the contractors, Winfried Simatupang.

The team has also been trying to ascertain why, if at all, Akbar appointed Raudlatul Jannah as the organizer of the project.

The suspicion that Akbar allegedly siphoned off the money to Golkar, was all but confirmed, when a Golkar executive, Syamsul Mu'arif, now minister of communications and information, recently said that all but one, the People's Democratic Party, of the 48 parties in the election got a share of the hot money.

Also questioned on Thursday as a witness in Akbar's corruption case was Ruskandar. He explained that on Mar. 2, 1999, he had handed two checks, each worth Rp 10 billion, to Akbar in the latter's office. Ruskandar was accompanied by staffer H. Ishadi Saleh.

On the second delivery on Apr. 20, Ruskandar claimed that he was accompanied by another staffer Yusnadi Suwarta when handing over eight checks with a total value of Rp 20 billion, also received by Akbar in person.

In previous questioning, Akbar claimed he had never received the money but saw it put on his desk before Raudlatul Jannah Foundation collected it.

Attorney General's Office spokesman Muljohardjo revealed that in the questioning Ishadi clarified that the checks were put in an envelope which was inserted into a file folder.

"The file folder was handed to Akbar who ordered us to put it on his desk," Muljohardjo quoted Ishadi.

Rahardi's lawyer Yan Djuanda Saputra told reporters that his client was astonished when the investigators showed him two receipts of the Bulog funds signed by the Foundation executives.

Yan Djuanda said that the receipts should be signed on behalf of the Office of the State Secretariat as the recipient.

"Akbar collected the first receipt from Ruskandar, promising that he would give it to Bulog after he got the rest of the money. But until he retired (as state/Cabinet secretary), he never honored his promise.

"So it was surprising that the Foundation got the receipts which appear as if Bulog handed over the money directly to the Foundation," he added.

Muljohardjo also explained that the number of checks related to the case was 10, and not 15, as earlier reported. All were seized as evidence.

Five of the checks, according to witness Muniyanti, customer service officer at the now defunct Bank Exim, were signed by Ruskandar and Yunardi Suwarta.

The investigators revealed that all the checks were cashed by one person using a fake ID card through Bank Exim and Bank Duta.

In a related development, more calls for Akbar to resign as Golkar chief and House Speaker to facilitate the investigation came from the South Sulawesi Golkar chapter on Thursday.

Chairman of the South Sulawesi Golkar Chapter Edy Baramuli said Akbar should quit to maintain the credibility of both the House and the Golkar party.