ICW urges Habibie to fire Andi M. Ghalib

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) on Tuesday strongly recommended that President B.J. Habibie dismiss Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib from his post for allegedly receiving Rp 1.8 billion in his bank accounts from several parties.

According to the independent body, Ghalib's alleged misdeed has tarnished the image of the Attorney General's Office as a state institution which has a duty to enforce laws here.

"The dismissal is required to restore the authority of the Attorney General's Office," Teten Masduki, coordinator of ICW's executive body, told a news conference at the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) in Central Jakarta.

According to Teten, Ghalib should be dismissed as soon as possible to help speed up an investigation of the case.

"We're sure that the investigation and trial over the case will be obstructed by his current official status if he's not dismissed immediately," he said.

There are strong grounds to fire Ghalib, Teten added, such as the money transferred to his private account and the huge amount of his savings, which reached some Rp 13 billion as of February this year.

But the amount fell to about Rp 9 billion on June 1, he added.

"The amount of the savings is not proportional compare to his monthly salary of about Rp 7.5 million," he said.

Ghalib, a three-star general, has been in his post for almost a year.

The attorney general himself has admitted to receiving money transfers totaling Rp 450 million from tycoons The Nin King and Prajogo Pangestu at a time when the two businessmen were being questioned by Ghalib's office for suspected financial misdeeds.

But he defended that the money was donations allocated for the Indonesian Wrestling Association (PGSI), which he chairs.

Ghalib, however, has not explained why the money was transferred to his private account.

ICW disclosed the controversial money transfers last Thursday, saying that Rp 1,843,700,000 had been transferred to the bank accounts of Ghalib and his wife Andi Murniati at Bank Lippo's Melawai branch in South Jakarta.

The remittances were reportedly made in 11 transactions from Feb. 12 to May. 6, ICW said.

According to Tempo weekly in its latest edition, Rp 418.7 million was transferred to Ghalib's accounts by PGSI deputy treasurer Husain Djojonegoro, who is also president of International Chemical Industries Co. Ltd. (InterCallin), the producer of ABC batteries, on three separate occasions.

The latter was said to have received the money from PT ASPP, the producer of Krating Daeng health drink, his own company (InterCallin) and suppliers of his product.

"It's extremely strange. How could a treasurer of an association transfer money to the chairman, while it is his duty to keep the organization's money?" said Bambang Widjojanto, member of ICW ethics board.

Other "wrestling donors" were identified as Ganda, director of PT Tri Ekasapta, who transferred Rp 275 million on two occasions, Juliana Lusianto (Rp 250 million) and PT Inti DP (Rp 100 million).

Two other donors, who transferred Rp 250 million and Rp 100 million to Ghalib's account respectively, are still unknown.

Tempo quoted a senior official at Ghalib's office as saying that the attorney general kept several other "official funds", including those used for the construction of a mosque at the office complex, in his private account.

The source said Ghalib's wife was no different. Andi, who chaired the Dharma Wanita women's organization at her husband's office, also kept funds allocated for the organization's activities in her private account, according to the source.

"It's absolutely a violation. Official affairs have been mixed up with private business," he said.

According to ICW, on April 1 Ghalib transferred Rp 495 million to a bank account in the name of Hugeng Sugiono, the owner of Pulau Bali jewelry store in Cikini market in Central Jakarta.

"We checked directly with the shop owner, who said that Ghalib used the money to pay for gold," Teten said.

At that time, he said, gold was selling at Rp 70,000 per gram here, meaning that the transaction was for some seven kilograms of gold.

In the news conference, Bambang criticized the military police for being slow to follow up ICW's reports, which they handed over last Thursday.

"It's apparent the old spirit of the corps still exists," he said, referring to the senior-junior hierarchy in the military.

"We therefore plan to visit President Habibie this week to push further for an investigation into the case," he said.

Separately, Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin said on Tuesday that his office would soon investigate the alleged breaching of the banking secrecy law in regard to Ghalib's accounts at Bank Lippo.

He said any of the bank's employees or management found responsible for leaking details of Ghalib's account would be penalized.

In a related development, chairman of National Sports Council (KONI) Wismoyo Arismunandar urged Ghalib not to resign from PGSI.

"National sports will face a setback if government officials, public figures and reputable individuals retreat from the national sports community," Wismoyo was quoted by Enny Hardjanto, KONI's spokeswoman, as saying.

Ghalib said on Monday he would resign as PGSI chairman.

PGSI's executive chairman Endro Sumarjo claimed that PGSI had used some Rp 57 million of PGSI's Rp 1.5 billion kept in an account in Ghalib's name.

Unlike in many other countries, most of the country's sports bodies are led by active as well as retired high-ranking military and police officers. (asa/rei/ivy/bsr)