Investigation on land row to go on: Police
Investigation on land row to go on: Police
JAKARTA (JP): The National Police Headquarters said it will continue to investigate a businessman involved in a fraudulent land deal.
"We can't stop the investigation despite repeated requests from him (Irwan Sutisna), unless there is convincing evidence that the case lacks evidence of criminal activity," police spokesman Col. Hari Sutanto told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
On Thursday Sutisna renewed his appeal that the police stop the investigation against him, which has been going on for two years.
"I have asked the police repeatedly to stop the investigation. If I commit an offense, prove it and take me to the courtroom as soon as possible," Irwan told reporters.
The president of PT Ircobumi Grahamaju, a private company which appropriated the disputed 11,408 square-meter plot of land, said the plot was covered by proper legal documents.
The land dispute resurfaced again this week and made headlines in local newspapers when National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro said that Marshall (ret.) Mohamad Saleh Basarah Suraningrat, a former Air Force Chief of Staff, had been questioned by the current Air Force Chief of Staff (Marshall Rilo Pambudi) over his alleged involvement in the scam.
The case involving the former Air Force Chief dates back to 1978 when his company, PT Teguh Timbul, acquired licenses to the lucrative plots located on Kav. 26 and 27 of Jl. Sudirman, South Jakarta.
Due to financial difficulties, until 1988, PT Teguh Timbul had only appropriated about half of the 8,110 square meters of the land.
The company with and all its assets were then purchased by PT Ircobumi Grahamaju for Rp 850 million (US$390,500), which then proceeded to appropriate all the land and acquired land certificates as well as land use and building permits for the plots.
Building
Irwan later sold one of the plot to Bank Bali where a 21-story office building is located, while another was developed by PT Nico Central, a joint-venture firm owned by PT Ircobumi, Nissho Iwai Co., and Jaya Obayashi where another 21-story building is situated.
The legal dispute resurfaced two years ago when Sukirman Hartomartono, an Air Force officer, claimed he had not been informed by the other co-owners, Saleh and G.F. Mambu, of the sale of the company to PT Ircobumi.
Sukirman accused his former partners of embezzlement and the president of PT Ircobumi, Irwan Sutisna, of falsifying documents so as to illegally appropriate the plots.
Sukirman initially won the case when it was presented to the South Jakarta District Court in October 1991. But the ruling was then overruled by the Jakarta High Court in February 1993.
The suit is currently pending following Sukirman's appeal to the Supreme Court. A new ruling is expected in the near future. (bsr)