House plans to investigate Kostrad scandal: Muhaimin
House plans to investigate Kostrad scandal: Muhaimin
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives plans to
investigate allegations of a Rp 189 billion corruption scandal at
a foundation ran by the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad)
although the Army has dismissed allegations of graft.
House Deputy Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar told reporters on
Thursday that the House, currently still in recess, has included
the `Kostradgate' in its upcoming agenda.
"If the House finds indications of irregularities, it will ask
the Attorney General's Office to initiate legal proceedings,"
Muhaimin said.
The scandal first surfaced in April when executives of the
Dharma Putra Foundation could not account for a Rp 189 billion
($22 million) fund which had been withdrawn from its subsidiary
company, PT Mandala Airlines.
The House's Commission I for defense and foreign affairs, and
Commission IX for finance and state budget, have been assigned to
handle the investigation, Muhaimin said.
The two commissions will hold a hearing with the State Audit
Agency (BPK) and the Army's Inspectorate General to discuss the
results of their separate audits into the foundation's finances.
The Army's Inspectorate General this week cleared Kostrad of
any corruption charges in the foundation although it admitted
that the foundation's finances had been improperly managed.
BPK has also audited the foundation's finances but the results
had not been made public.
Muhaimin said the House's investigation was necessary to
ensure public accountability of all the military's businesses,
including Kostrad's foundation.
"None of the military units have publicly disclosed the
sources of their funds aside from those allocated in the
government's budget," he said.
Taufiqurrachman, chairman of the National Awakening Party
(PKB) faction, said the military is not immune to the law.
"We believe that servicemen of whatever ranks should be
prosecuted if they are corrupt. This (Kostrad) case will serve as
a good lesson for the military," he said.
I Gde Arcana, who led BPK's team in auditing Kostrad's
foundation, declined to disclose the audit results to the press,
saying that they would only be presented to the House if asked.
"We will present the audit results to the House and let the
Attorney General's Office and the court decide whether there are
irregularities in the foundation," he said.
Lt. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusumah, the former Kostrad chief who
launched the investigation into the irregularities in April,
urged Army leaders on Thursday to turn the case to the court and
punish the guilty parties.
"The Kostrad chief is empowered to impose disciplinary
sanctions against officers. The case should be brought before the
court," he told reporters at his residence in Bulak Rantai, East
Jakarta.
He rejected the Army's report which had trivialized the case
into an administrative disorder.
The foundation's executives could not properly explain the
withdrawal of Rp 189 billion between November and March, he said.
"Col. Fahmi and Col. Tandjung, the foundation's former
treasurer and former logistics affairs chief respectively,
declined to reveal what the money was used for," he said.
The two officers were suspended from their positions in the
foundation but both have assumed new positions in the TNI
Headquarters, he said.
Agus was at the height of his campaign to unveil the financial
irregularities at the foundation when he was removed from the top
Kostrad post in August after only serving less than five months.
He said his campaign was aimed at reforming the foundation's
management and not at particular individuals in Kostrad like his
predecessor Lt. Gen. Djadja Suparman who was in charge at the
time the alleged irregularities occurred.
Army deputy chief Lt. Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said the Army
leadership would support further investigation by the Attorney
General's Office if irregularities were found in the foundation.
(rms)