Investigation into Texmaco scandal halted
JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office has halted an investigation into the high profile Texmaco Rp 9.6 trillion (US$1.15 billion) alleged loan scandal due to lack of evidence.
Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Ramelan said here on Friday the probe had been stopped because there was not enough evidence that the state had suffered financial losses from the loan transaction as confirmed by the testimony of experts from the State Development Finance Comptroller or BPKP.
"This is a dilemma. But if there's no evidence of financial losses to the state, this case can't be brought to court," Ramelan told reporters.
He pointed out that Texmaco, a giant integrated textile firm, had provided more than sufficient collateral for the loan channeled by state Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).
Ramelan also said that there was no evidence of the involvement of former president Soeharto in the loan transaction.
Meanwhile, director of the investigation Ris Sihombing also said that there was no evidence that the loan transaction violated banking rulings.
Former state minister of investments and state enterprises development Laksamana Sukardi shocked the House of Representatives in November last year when he accused Texmaco founder Marimutu Sinivasan of colluding with Soeharto to force BNI to channel the huge loan.
Laksamana said at the time that the loan transaction violated the central bank legal lending limit ruling.
Marimutu was named a suspect in the case on Dec. 2, immediately after Attorney General Marzuki Darusman received the document on the alleged corruption case from Laksamana.
Laksamana was recently dismissed by President Abdurrahman Wahid, who has been reshuffling the Cabinet to improve its performance.
Meanwhile, Teten Masduki of the respected Indonesian Corruption Watch lambasted the administration of Abdurrahman for lacking a strong commitment to combating corruption, as evident from the suspension of the investigation into the alleged loan scandal.
"The reason to halt the investigation of the Texmaco case, based on the result of the BPKP audit, is irresponsible, considering that the credibility of BPKP is doubted," Teten said.
"We also suspect a high political conspiracy behind the decision to issue the ruling (to halt the investigation) as part of a plan to bail out the Texmaco group," he added.
Starting its business in the textile trade in 1962, Texmaco has transformed into a large group of companies that manufacture synthetic fibers, textiles, garments, textile machinery, machine tools, trucks and small tractors and a wide range of other engineering goods.
This range of consumer and capital goods, Texmaco chairman Sinivasan says, are all the basic needs for a developing economy like Indonesia's and are well positioned to become competitive exports in the global markets.
Texmaco factories, including a 360,000-ton capacity purified terephtalic acid factory in Karawang, West Java, are located in several towns across Java.
Texmaco's engineering goods, such as textile machinery, machine tools, automobile components, fabrics and garments have entered markets in South Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
The company said its fabrics were widely used by well-known branded apparel makers, such as Marks & Spencer, Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Levi's and Nike.
Three Texmaco subsidiaries, PT Texmaco Jaya (textiles and garments), PT Texmaco Perkasa Engineering (metals, machinery and trucks) and PT Polysindo Eka Perkasa (synthetic fibers and fabrics) are listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange.
The group directly employs 50,000 workers and had a cumulative export value of $900 million from 1997 to 1999. It also supplies basic materials to 270 other companies with 150,000 workers. (rei/01)