Lawyer claims Doddy received Tommy's money
Lawyer claims Doddy received Tommy's money
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Raden Doddy Sumadi, the middleman who arranged the meeting
between Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra and former president
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, admitted to receiving money from
Tommy, his lawyer said Thursday.
"Yes, but there will be more detailed explanations on the
matter (the money)," lawyer Firman Wijaya confirmed when asked
whether or not his client had received money from Tommy.
Doddy, along with Abdullah Sidiq Muin, principal of the At-
tauhid Islamic boarding school in Kediri, East Java, were
reported by Tommy's lawyers to police for alleged blackmail and
extortion of the youngest son of former president Soeharto,
causing him a loss of Rp 15 billion.
Doddy, who was arrested by the police on Wednesday, is
reportedly close to Gus Dur, but some sources had said that Tommy
and Doddy had been acquainted as business partners long before
the meetings.
Doddy and Sidiq, one of Gus Dur's spiritual advisers, had
apparently been paid to help arrange the controversial meetings
at The Regent and Borobudur Hotel here last year between Tommy
and then president Gus Dur, the subject reportedly being
negotiations for a presidential pardon.
Many legal experts believed that the case initiated by Tommy's
lawyers was merely a legal ploy to derail the police's
investigation of Tommy by dragging high profile figures into the
mix.
While the police had aggressively followed up the lawyers'
report on the alleged extortion, they seem to be ignoring the
very real possibility that Tommy should also be charged with
bribery.
Gus Dur and his wife Sinta Nuriyah had been summoned by police
to track the money in question, which reportedly had been
siphoned off to Sinta's social foundation Puan Amal Hayati. Both
Gus Dur and Sinta denied all allegations.
Doddy, who disappeared following Tommy's arrest in November
2001, was captured at his residence in Kelapa Gading, North
Jakarta on Wednesday evening.
Sidiq had been summoned but failed to appear due to ill
health. Police said they sent a team to Kediri to check on his
condition.