KPK pushes ahead with Theo probe
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) plans to question more witnesses in connection with an alleged graft case involving former chief of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Theo F. Toemion.
KPK deputy chairman for investigation Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean said on Thursday that KPK investigators would summon the members of the management board of PT Catur Dwi Karsa, a company which was appointed by Theo to carry out an investment promotion program in 2003.
"They didn't do some of the projects (they were meant to do), but they got the money," he told reporters after a ceremony marking the second anniversary of the commission.
Theo was detained by the KPK late on Wednesday after the commission named him a suspect in the case involving the investment promotion program. It is estimated that the financial irregularities cost the state Rp 32 billion in financial losses.
According to the KPK, Theo did not hold a tender process for the third party company to be assigned to carry out the investment promotion program as required by the anticorruption law.
Separately, KPK Chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki said that his office would likely question former Bank Mandiri president E.C.W. Neloe, who is currently being held at Salemba Penitentiary over a separate graft case, to seek more information about Theo's case.
Neloe allegedly approved the disbursement of Bank Mandiri money valued at Rp 47 billion to help finance the investment promotion program based only on a memo from Theo.
"Let's see how the investigation proceeds," Ruki said, adding that the investigators were still examining whether the money was disbursed by Bank Mandiri's management or by individuals.
He added that investigators were also examining whether the money went to the pockets of individuals or to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), in which Theo is a member.
Theo, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, was appointed as the chief of the BKPM in 2001 during the government of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the PDI-P leader.
He was dismissed from the position following an incident in which he was accused of assaulting a foreign student and scuffling with foreign residents at the Jakarta International School (JIS) in April.
An official close to the graft investigation said that according to Theo, not a single rupiah of the Bank Mandiri funds went to PDI-P, and that any mistake made during the implementation of the investment promotion program would be his responsibility.
Interestingly, there has only been one PDI-P member to show a gesture of sympathy for Theo, legislator Panda Nababan.
Separately, Theo appeared somewhat less than content in the detention facility at the Jakarta Police headquarters. Theo remained quiet and was in no mood for conversation with other detainees inside the cell, which has no air conditioning, state news agency Antara reported.