Lopa to probe protected tycoons for alleged graft

Lopa to probe protected tycoons for alleged graft

JAKARTA (JP): The fight against corruption has led the
Attorney General's Office under new boss Baharuddin Lopa to three
businessmen once protected from prosecution by President
Abdurrahman Wahid.

The office revealed on Monday that textile tycoon Marimutu
Sinivasan had been slapped with a travel ban for a year in
connection with alleged graft in his holding company Texmaco.

Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Bachtiar Fachri
Nasution told the media that the ban had been effective since
last Friday. He said the ban was aimed at facilitating the
investigation into the case, which was halted last year due to
lack of evidence.

"As ordered by the Attorney General, we are now considering a
reopening of the Texmaco case. We have already received a report
containing new evidence pertaining to the case. Therefore we have
taken the precautionary measure of prohibiting Sinivasan from
leaving the country to begin with," he said, while refusing to
reveal the source of the report.

Sinivasan has been named a suspect for allegedly marking up
state loans given to Texmaco during the bleak period of the
economic crisis which hit the country between 1997 and 1999.

Earlier in the day, Lopa affirmed that his office would not
allow timber businessman Prajogo Pangestu, a suspect in a
corruption case, and Gajah Tunggal Group owner Sjamsul Nursalim,
whose name is implicated in another graft case, to escape
prosecution although both of them are still abroad for medical
treatment.

"I encourage them to come home soon for questioning ... the
sooner the better ... If they try to give excuses, they will only
put themselves in trouble," he said after inducting a team
investigating the gross human rights abuse in Abepura, Irian
Jaya.

He said his office decided to recall Prajogo's passport
because the latter had extended his stay in Singapore due to ill
health right after the Attorney General's Office issued him a
summons.

"At first he flew to Singapore for business. But, later on he
said he could not meet the summons because he had to undergo a
blood test prior to his scheduled surgery. Too many excuses," he
added.

Nasution explained that the passport revocation was similar to
a travel prohibition, since Prajogo could only obtain a permit
for a one way trip to Indonesia.

Lopa also revealed that Sjamsul had asked for time before
appearing in the Attorney General's Office for questioning
because his surgery in a hospital in Japan had been scheduled
after his cardiologist returns from a seminar abroad.

In a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission II
for legal affairs in the evening, Lopa argued that his office's
investigation into three legislators, allegedly involved in
different graft cases, was merely aimed at upholding justice and
a clean and respectable legislature.

"My duty has nothing to do with the current conflict between
President Abdurrahman and the House. It's not true. The
investigation itself can be cited as an example of our efforts to
fulfill the people's demand for a sense of justice," he said to
the cheers and applause from the commission members.

"I've talked to (House speaker) Akbar Tandjung recently that
the sooner the legislators are proven innocent the better," he
said. He admitted to have said nightly prayers for 10 consecutive
days before announcing the investigation into Golkar party chief
Akbar Tandjung, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) top legislator Arifin Panigoro and the People's
Consultative Assembly member Nurdin Halid.

As of Monday evening, state prosecutors continued the
questioning of businessman Nurdin, who has been named a suspect
in the misappropriation of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog)
fund. The crime has caused Rp 160 billion in state losses.
(02/bby/rms)