KONI officials queried over funds transfer

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An internal investigation team has questioned 16 officials of the National Sports Council (KONI) following a report of an alleged unlawful transfer of Rp 4 billion (US$500,000) from the council to the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI).

The team questioned on Wednesday Irawadi D. Hanafi, one of the two officials who signed the approval for the transfer.

Irawadi, who is KONI's deputy treasurer, declined to comment on what happened during the questioning.

The investigating team, which conducted the questioning inside a closed room for almost two hours at KONI headquarters, also refused to elaborate.

"No comment! I will leave it to the investigating team to inform you," said Irawadi when he asked about the meeting as he was leaving the room where it was held.

Irawadi and KONI secretary-general Oyong Karmayudha signed the approval authorizing the paying out of the Rp 4 billion from KONI's account at Bank BNI to a PSSI account in Bank Mandiri.

KONI chairman Agum Gumelar, who also chairs the PSSI, claimed he knew nothing about the transfer.

Suspicions about embezzlement have increased following denial by Bank Mandiri that it paid higher interest than BNI, which was the reason given by the signatories to the approval to justify the transfer.

As the case appears to be developing into another corruption scandal, Oyong said in his latest media interview that Irawadi, who is also the PSSI treasurer, was the brains behind the move.

Irawadi has just returned from a trip to Lebanon, where the Indonesian U-23 soccer team suffered a humiliating 1-5 defeat by the home side and failed to qualify for the Olympics 2-5 on aggregate.

Upon his arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday, he was reported to have promised to hold a media conference to explain the transfer as soon as possible.

When asked about Oyong's statement, Irawadi said: "I don't know what Oyong said about me."

And when questioned about the investigating team had asked him, he said: "No comment. I'll tell you later. Ask me about the (Indonesian) soccer team, please!"

Cahyo Adi, who heads the four-member investigating team, initially appeared determined not to talk to the media.

However, he eventually said: "We have yet to reach a conclusion about the case. Please, give us time to do our job properly."

Irawadi appeared to have been the latest person to have been questioned.

"Sixteen," Cahyo said when asked about the total number of those called in for questioning.

"We will give the report on the results of the questioning to Pak Agum," he said.