KPK pushes ahead with Theo probe

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.