Experts testify against Puteh in corruption case

Experts testify against Puteh in corruption case

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Experts testified at the graft trial of suspended Aceh Governor
Abdullah Puteh on Thursday and stated that the defendant violated
administrative procedures in the purchase of a Russian-made
chopper and that the aircraft was indeed a used product.

One witness, Sutrisno, a helicopter specialist from state-
owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia, told the
Anti-Corruption Court that the chopper was not a new aircraft as
had been claimed by the Puteh camp to justify its high price tag.

"I inspected the aircraft in July 2004 and found that the left
engine already had 1,518 flight hours and the right one 1,547
flight hours," he said.

"About 500 hours were used after the plane arrived in
Indonesia, but the remaining 1,000 hours, which is roughly equal
to two years, were already recorded before the chopper had been
handed over to the Aceh administration."

Sutrisno explained that a new engine does not mean it has to
have zero flight hours, but usually would be less than 25 flight
hours.

Apart from that, it was not clear whether the helicopter was
indeed bullet-proof as was also claimed. The chopper did not have
any documents stating that it had bullet-proofing, the expert
said.

Another expert, Adriansyah, the director of expenses and
regional finance at the Ministry of Finance, told the court that
the Aceh administration misused the Rp 9.1 billion that it paid
for the helicopter.

"The Rp 9.1 billion provided by 13 regencies and cities in
Aceh was not supposed to be used to buy the helicopter. It was
part of "special treatment funds" from the central government for
regencies and cities in provinces to deal with natural disasters,
refugees and riots," he said.

The money should have also been allotted for routine
expenditures, such as the payment of official salaries, added
Adriansyah.

Puteh, being tried on charges of marking up the price of the
MI-2 helicopter, had said the chopper cost some Rp 12.6 billion,
including the Rp 9.1 billion from the 13 regental and municipal
administration in Aceh.

Another expert, Handoyo Sudrajat of the Development Finance
Comptroller (BPKP), said the procedures in purchasing the
helicopter contravened the financial administrative regulations.

"According to the regulations, all revenues and expenditures
have to go to the provincial cashier. So, the use of a personal
account is against the procedures," Handoyo told the judges.

Puteh had reportedly used his personal account to keep Rp 7.75
billion before paying PT Putra Pobiagan Mandiri (PPM), the broker
in the helicopter purchase.

However, the suspended governor apparently returned Rp 3.6
billion of the Rp 7.75 billion to the provincial cashier after
the Corruption Eradication Commission started the probe into his
case.

Handoyo also said that based on the Aceh cashier's records,
Puteh had caused Rp 13.7 billion in losses to the state over the
purchase of the chopper, but since he had returned the Rp 3.6
billion, the losses decreased to Rp 10.1 billion.

Puteh's lawyers rejected the statements by Adriansyah and
Handoyo, saying the two experts had no knowledge of the subjects
they had testified about.

"Obviously Adriansyah is not an expert. He kept looking at his
files when the judges asked for his opinion, while Handoyo was
not the person who audited the province's balance sheet," said
O.C. Kaligis, the chief lawyer for Puteh. (006)