Garuda employee suspected in Rp. 2.7b scam

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta's Prosecutor's Office has named three suspects in a Rp 2.7 billion land scam involving an employee of PT Garuda Indonesia.

Petrus Sambara, spokesman of the Prosecutor's Office told The Jakarta Post yesterday that one of the three, identified only as Sup. was an employee of the national flag carrier. The other two, SS and Dj. are reportedly land brokers.

The scam, according to the prosecutor, took place in 1991 when PT Garuda Indonesia bought 10.4 hectares of land in Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta from the Bentara Rakyat foundation.

The land was for the expansion of PT Garuda Indonesia's training complex.

According to a report made by the Development and Monetary Supervisory Board, the suspects manipulated the land price. The actual price of the land in Duri Kosambi in 1991 was Rp 58,700 per square meter, while Sup asked PT Garuda to pay Rp 85,000 per square meter.

The purchase of the land was not carried out directly between PT Garuda Indonesia and the Bentara Rakyat foundation. PT Garuda had to pay Rp 1.14 billion in commission to the two brokers.

Sambara said that the Prosecutor's Office has interrogated 16 witnesses in the case.

Seven of the witnesses are employees of PT Garuda Indonesia, including the head of the company's training center as well as the treasurer.

Several officials of the West Jakarta mayoralty believed to know about the scam have also been interrogated.

"The witnesses may become suspects if the investigations find adequate evidence to charge them," Sambara pointed out.

He declined to say when the dossiers would be submitted to court. "The investigation is not finished yet," he said. (29)