Kostrad cleared of graft charges
Kostrad cleared of graft charges
JAKARTA (JP): The Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad)
has been cleared of corruption charges over the use of massive
financial resources managed by its foundation.
But Army Inspector General Maj. Gen. Djoko Subroto, who led
the investigation, faulted past Kostrad leaders for mismanaging
the foundation.
"Despite the administrative disorder, we found no
irregularities in the way the foundation was run," Djoko said at
a media briefing.
He said this was the conclusion from three separate audits by
the Army, the State Audit Agency (BPK) and a public accountant
Herman Yuwono.
The verdict effectively cleared Lt. Gen. Djadja Suparman, who
commanded Kostrad for five months until March, of earlier
allegations of corrupt practices.
His successor, Lt. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusumah, launched the
investigation into how Djadja had managed to spend Rp 190 billion
(US$21 million) of the foundation's money during his brief term
at Kostrad.
Agus lost his Kostrad job in July just as he stepped up the
investigation into the financial irregularities.
Both Djadja and Agus now occupy less prestigious posts in the
military hierarchy. Djadja is commandant of the Joint Staff and
Command School of the Indonesian Military (Sesko TNI) while Agus
is a senior officer at the Army Headquarters.
Agus on Tuesday called the outcome of the investigation an
attempt to deceive the public and Kostrad soldiers.
"The (Army) audit's results have deceived the people and the
republic. This goes to show once more that the truth is hard to
come by in Indonesia," he was quoted as saying by Detikcom.
The inspectorate general's findings were different from those
determined from the audits by BPK and the public accountant, he
said.
Agus called on TNI Chief Adm. Widodo A.S. and Army Chief of
Staff Gen. Tyasno Sudarto not to accept the inspectorate
general's report and to pursue the corruption investigation
further.
Djoko told reporters that both BPK and the public accountant
had given "no opinion" on the foundation's finances because of
the administrative disorder.
"The foundation has never been audited since it was
established in 1963. The way it was managed did not meet normal
standards. Expenditures were based on assessments rather than on
real calculations and Kostrad repeatedly changed its bank
accounts," he said.
BPK has recommended that Kostrad show more transparency and
greater public accountability in the way it manages the
foundation because its assets should be considered a part of the
government's nonbudgetary funds, he said.
Djoko said he had recommended that the Army leadership
reprimand the Kostrad commanders and impose administrative
sanctions on the foundation's treasurer as the person most
responsible for the administrative chaos.
Kostrad was wrong for using the foundation's profit to finance
military operations and purchase equipment, he said.
"The profits should have been used to improve the welfare of
Kostrad's personnel," Djoko said.
The auditors said it learned that Kostrad received a dividend
of Rp 160 billion from PT Mandala Airlines in August last year.
Kostrad subsequently spent more than Rp 74 billion to finance
some of its military operations and for the procurement of
officers' cars, antibullet vests and modern parachutes.
Another Rp 44 billion was put into Kostrad's trust funds which
grew to Rp 189 billion, and another Rp 26 billion was spent on
the provision of housing facilities for Kostrad personnel.
Djadja subsequently returned Rp 41 billion of the dividend
money to Mandala, he said.
Djoko declined to account for the discrepancy between the Rp
160 billion dividend from Mandala and the more than Rp 200
billion that was spent and returned by Kostrad's leadership.
He said that last year was the first time Kostrad had ever
received a dividend from Mandala because the airline had always
operated at a loss prior to 1999.
When asked, he declined to disclose the wealth held in
Kostrad's foundation or the businesses owned and managed by the
foundation. (rms)