MAKI: Febrie's pretrial motion reveals owner of 74 kg of gold
Coordinator of the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI) Boyamin Saiman believes the pretrial motion filed by former Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) Febrie Adriansyah reveals the ownership of 74 kilograms of gold and nearly Rp500 billion in cash seized by National Police investigators.
Speaking in Jakarta on Thursday, Boyamin said his assessment is based on Febrie’s request for the return of the money and 74 kilograms of gold seized from a house in the Sentul area of West Java.
“I underline the substance of Febrie Adriansyah’s pretrial motion, which asks for the money and 74 kg of gold to be returned. This actually proves that the 74 kg of gold and nearly Rp500 billion in cash belong to Febrie,” said Boyamin.
According to Boyamin, the request in the pretrial motion could make it easier for investigators to continue the legal process in the case.
He said that if Febrie’s pretrial motion is granted, investigators can reapply for search and seizure warrants or new seizure permits in accordance with legal procedures.
“So it is more complete and more comprehensive, because the goods and the money have been acknowledged by Febrie Adriansyah as his,” he said.
Boyamin believes the thread of the case is becoming clearer because the request for return of the assets in the pretrial motion can serve as an indication of ownership of the seized items.
He compared this with a previous statement by lawyer Don Ritto, another suspect in the case, who said another party would file a pretrial motion and that it would not be Febrie or Don Ritto.
“With the current pretrial motion, the goods are acknowledged either implicitly or explicitly, whereas previously their status was unclear. But with Febrie Adriansyah’s request for the goods and money, legally the money and goods belong to Febrie Adriansyah,” he said.
Boyamin believes the pretrial motion could reveal more information related to the alleged corruption and money laundering case being handled by investigators.
He also highlighted the seizure of family photographs from the house that was searched.
According to Boyamin, the presence of the photographs could serve as an indication of Febrie’s connection to the house.
“If it were not Febrie Adriansyah’s, family photographs would not be there. So this is what is called circumstantial evidence,” he said.
According to Boyamin, the request for the return of the money, gold and family photographs could form part of the evidence in the investigation into alleged corruption and money laundering.
“However, in this understanding, the corruption offence must still be proven in court. As for the money laundering, it does not have to be charged separately alongside the corruption article. It is sufficient to use the money laundering article, where the money originates from corruption,” said Boyamin.