Graft suspect commits suicide

Graft suspect commits suicide

JAKARTA: A former employee of the Customs and Excise Office
detained as a suspect for his role in a Rp 71 billion graft case
was found dead hanging in his cell at the police headquarters
here.

Sutopo, 47, apparently committed suicide by hanging himself
using his socks tied to the bars of his cell on Monday. The body
was sent to the morgue of the Cipto Mangunkusumo Public Hospital,
a morgue staff said Tuesday.

The suspect, an employee at the Customs and Excise Office in
Belawan, North Sumatra, had been in police custody following his
arrest in October last year after being on the run for 3 months.

He was accused of corruption along with five other people:
Rahman Hakim and Arief Dewanto, both are chief senior officers at
the Jatinegara branch of Bank Mandiri in Jakarta; Halomoan
Gultom, an official at the Ministry of Finance; and three
importers, Cece Hermawan, Ismail and Mohammad Hasyim.

The group is accused of siphoning off Rp 71 billion of
taxpayers' money. --JP