Gus Dur 'not linked to Bulog scam'
Gus Dur 'not linked to Bulog scam'
JAKARTA (JP): Despite the presence of strong evidence, Alip
Agung Suwondo, President Abdurrahman Wahid's former masseur,
continued to deny that the President was linked to the Rp 35
billion (US$4 million) State Logistics Agency (Bulog) scandal.
"I told the police that it had nothing to do with Gus Dur
(Abdurrahman's nickname). It was a personal loan given by (former
deputy Bulog chief) Sapuan, to me," Suwondo told city police
after eight hours of questioning that began at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
"I never claimed to be the President's personal assistant when
I asked for the Rp 35 billion loan, and it was not for use in
Aceh."
Suwondo, who police also identify as An Peng Sui, made the
statements despite an official receipt from the Bulog employees
foundation, Yanatera, bearing his signature below the title
President's personal assistant.
The receipt has been handed over to the South Jakarta District
Court as evidence.
Rp 35 billion were withdrawn from Yanatera by defendant
Sapuan, who claimed that he had done so at the behest of the
President. The funds were given to Suwondo via four Bank Bukopin
checks, issued on Jan. 13 and Jan. 20 this year.
Of the Rp 35 billion, Suwondo gave Rp 15 billion to Suko
Sudarso, an official of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Rp 5 billion to businesswoman Siti
Farika and Rp 5 billion to Leo Purnomo, allegedly an employee of
the Awair airline company whom police have been unable to find.
Awair, formerly called A.W. Air, was jointly founded by
Suwondo, Abdurrahman and Rachmat Soebakir.
At a Tuesday hearing of the Bulog trial, legislator Suko
Sudarso looked uncomfortable when questioned about the Rp 15
billion check he received.
"That check belonged to Hendri Arioseno, my friend, who
refused to deposit the money into his Bank Bali account, since
the bank had its own troubles," Suko, an official at the
Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), told
the South Jakarta Court hearing presided over by Judge Lalu
Mariyun.
"Hendri gave that check to me on Jan. 24. I deposited it in my
Citibank account on Jan. 26, and have long since returned the
money to Hendri. I'm not involved in this case," Suko said.
Hendri Arioseno, a land broker, received a Rp 15 billion check
from Suwondo on Jan. 22 as payment for 100 hectares of land in
Cianjur Selatan, West Java.
Suko looked nervous when chief defense lawyer Muhammad Assegaf
asked him how he returned the Rp 15 billion to Hendri.
"I wrote out about 30 to 40 checks to Hendri between January
and June," Suko answered.
Assegaf said: "You told the hearing that in the three years
you've known Hendri, he often asked you to clear his checks for
him in your account. As a friend, didn't you ever advise Hendri,
to open his own account?"
Suko said that he eventually helped Hendri open an account at
Bank Mandiri in June this year.
Assegaf backtracked and asked him about the name on the Rp 15
billion check.
"The name on that Bank Bukopin check, is yours. Not Hendri's
name ... but yours. Who wrote that name?" Assegaf asked.
Suko said: "I did. Initially, there was no name on the check.
I filled out my own name."
Assegaf asked whether Suko had only written checks to Hendri,
and nobody else. Suko nodded, but added that he had no proof of
this.
Assegaf asked Judge Lalu to request prosecutor Nulis
Sembiring, to provide the court with the checks Suko claimed he
had issued to Hendri. Nulis told the hearing that prosecutors had
not confiscated those checks.
Assegaf said it was crucial to find out the names on those
checks in order to determine who else might have benefited from
that money.
Nulis responded that it was irrelevant to Sapuan's case, since
where the money went from Suko, had nothing to do with Sapuan.
Another attraction at the hearing was Central Java-based
businesswoman, Siti Farikha, who testified that she received a Rp
5 billion check on March 13 -- one of the four checks Suwondo
received from Sapuan -- from Jakarta businessman, Aris Junaidi,
for a business venture.
At the Tuesday hearing, Siti, who has family links with the
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization -- formerly chaired by
Abdurrahman -- denied knowing that Aris is brother of Arifin
Junaidi, who was an NU official under Abdurrahman. (ylt/jaw)