Hasan detention period extended

Hasan detention period extended

JAKARTA (JP): Mohamad "Bob" Hasan's hopes to enjoy some fresh
air came a cropper on Monday as the Attorney General's Office
extended his detention for another 20 days.

Spokesman Yushar Yahya confirmed that the timber tycoon and
business associate of former president Soeharto would remain
under custody of the Attorney General's Office pending completion
of investigation into his alleged embezzlement of reforestation
funds.

"We have plans to call more witnesses in the following weeks,"
Yushar said.

Bob, who briefly served as minister of industry and trade, was
detained on March 28 after being named a suspect in a US$87
million fraud of the government contract to perform aerial
mapping and airborne radar imaging of the country's forestry
resources.

The contract was awarded to Bob, the Indonesian Forest
Concessionaires Association (APHI) chairman, in 1994 and
the project was carried out by PT Mapindo Parama, using the
government's reforestation fund.

State prosecutor Suwandi said on Monday that investigation
revealed that Bob is the sole shareholder of the company.

A Ministry of Forestry and Plantation report last month stated
that the techniques applied in the mapping were obsolete and
uneconomical and the results failed to meet specifications agreed
in the contract.

Bob's lawyer, Augustinus Hutajulu, said on Monday his client
had been informed of the extended detention period on Saturday
and that Bob was willing to comply with legal procedures to speed
up the investigation.

He claimed that Bob only owned 49 percent of PT Mapindo's
shares, 30 percent being held on behalf of Dakab Foundations, one
of Soeharto's charity foundations. The remaining 51 percent
belongs to PT Baruna, whose owners were kept secret by
Augustinus.

Former deputy Army chief of staff Lt. Gen.(ret.) F.X.
Sudjasmin testified earlier in the day at the Attorney General's
Office that the Association of Indonesian Wood Panel Producers
(Apkindo) had transferred some US$46 million in 1994 to APHI.

Sudjasmin was the head of the auditing team for Apkindo in
1998, a year after his retirement from the Military.

"I was summoned to clarify the auditing results," he told
journalists after three hours of questioning. He did not deny
that the money was allegedly mishandled by Bob, who chaired both
APHI and Apkindo at that time.

Arriving at 10:50 a.m. at the Attorney General's Office,
former minister of forestry and plantations Muslimin Nasution was
also questioned as another witness.

The questioning lasted almost five hours.(01)