Hong Lie on most wanted list: City Police chief

JAKARTA (JP): City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo said yesterday that entertainment businessman Hong Lie is wanted in connection with last year's killing of his competitor, Nyo Beng Seng.

"We have put his name on our most wanted list and sent a copy to the (National Central Bureau) Interpol to ask for help," the two-star general said after inaugurating a three-month traffic course.

When asked why the police haven't been able to bring Hong Lie, a businessman of Chinese origin, to Jakarta for questioning, Dibyo said that he had no idea.

"But we sent a copy of the list to Interpol some time ago," was all he could say.

Hong Lie, alias Herry Cahyadi, 39, is believed to be in Singapore, which has no extradition treaty with Indonesia.

Beng Seng, alias Darmansyah Suyadi, was brutally stabbed by a group of masked men in front of his second wife's mansion on Jl. Pluit Kencana Raya 128 in Pluit, North Jakarta, at 1:30 a.m. on April 15, 1994.

The victim owned a number of nightclubs, massage parlors and other business firms, including the PT Irama Tara recording company. He was also a renowned gambler, with a taste for Macao, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Genting Highland in Malaysia and Perth in Australia.

Hong Lie owns hundreds of race horses and the Lido Star cruise ship in Singapore. It remains unknown whether he also has business activities in Jakarta.

Beng Seng and Hong Lie grew up together as street hoodlums in Medan, North Sumatra.

Several days after the killing of Beng Seng, police determined that Hong Lie had a significant role in the murder.

So far police have only arrested two of the seven suspects, excluding Hong Lie.

The trial of the two suspects, identified as Sudartono, alias Atok, 40, and Agiono, 36, has been at the North Jakarta court since April this year. It has not been concluded due to a number of new issues that have come up during the trial.

The two suspects, for example, have not revealed the name of the person who hired them.

The suspects confessed during police questioning that Hong Lie asked them to surrender during a meeting in Singapore because he had given Rp 400 million (US$179,000) to a senior Indonesian police officer to go easy on them.

However, the suspects denied their early confession during the trial, as did former city police chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Mochammad Hindarto.

Dibyo has allegedly known about the bribe since he was Hindarto's deputy.

"Earlier, I heard the amount was Rp 600 million, which is untrue," he said.

"But we never want to stop suspected criminals from talking, that's why we just typed down on the dossiers whatever they said during the interrogation."

Dibyo expressed his hope that the appearance of Hong Lie in court would help clear up the case. (bsr)