Ex-councillor named suspect of Rp 1b fraud case
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Jakarta Police named former City Council chairman Agung Imam Sumanto a suspect on Thursday for swindling Rp 1 billion (US$108,696) from four business partners.
The police are scheduled to question Agung on Friday, who was elected as a councillor from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) for the 1999-2004 period.
"We already sent the first summons for questioning," the city police detectives chief Sr. Comr. Mathius Salempang told reporters.
Agung could be charged under Article 378 of the Criminal Code on fraud. The article carries a maximum sentence of four years imprisonment.
City police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani had said on Wednesday when attending the swearing-in ceremony of the city's new councillors that the police would summons him immediately because Agung was no longer a councillor and therefore the police would not need approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs to question him.
Agung is also a member of the campaign team for Megawati Soekarnoputri, in her bid for a full term. He arrived at the city police headquarters on Thursday for the gathering of the two presidential candidates' campaign teams.
In contrast to his earlier denials, Agung was willing to talk to the press on Thursday.
"A friend of mine asked me to help four businessman on public transportation matter. I said I would try. I did. But since my efforts (to help them) failed, what can I say?" he said.
Agung admitted that he took the Rp 1 billion, but denied that he misused it for his own interests.
"The money was used for the (presidential election) campaign. One of the businesspeople is also a PDI-P member. He knew where the money went," he said, adding he would be ready for the questioning.
Agung had been reported to the police on July 26 by Etty Mustam, a 60-year-old public transportation businesswoman.
Local media have reported that Etty was one of the four businesspeople who had given Agung Rp 1 billion in cash in 2003. They had asked for Agung's help in facilitating licenses for their 200 public minivans.
The reports said that Agung had requested Rp 5 million commission for each of the minivans.
The four businesspeople paid the money gradually. One of them gave some hundred million rupiah to Agung through his second wife, Ita Nurhayati.
But even though Agung's tenure as a councillor has already ended, the four businesspeople have not hear any news on the fate of the expected licenses of their public minivans.
Salempang said before the police named Agung a suspect, they had questioned five witnesses: the four businesspeople and Agung's second wife.