Mar'ie officially queried over Tommy's national car project

JAKARTA (JP): Former finance minister Mar'ie Muhammad was questioned at the Attorney General's Office on Thursday over the national car project of former president Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.

He was questioned for more than five hours by a team of prosecutors led by Sudibyo Saleh, the head of the center for intelligence operations.

"I came to answer a summons from the Attorney General's Office and I was asked about things I have heard, known and seen in regard to the national car (project)," Mar'ie told reporters.

Accompanied by several lawyers from the University of Indonesia's Legal Aid Institute, Mar'ie said he would not give "judgment" on the matter.

"My presence here is in the framework of a bigger investigation, so my information would be additional data for the Attorney General's Office."

Deputy Attorney General of Special Crimes Anton Sujata said earlier that several former ministers and high-ranking officials under Soeharto would be questioned over the alleged corruption by the former strongman and his family during his 32 years in power.

A focus of Soeharto's questioning on Dec. 9 was the national car, a project controlled by Tommy under PT Timor Putra Nasional which was afforded huge tax breaks to produce the Timor sedan.

The company also received a multimillion dollar soft loan from a consortium of 16 banks, including state institutions.

An attorney general document distributed on Dec. 7 said the national car was a "nepotism project" that had cost the government at least US$1.5 billion.

"It was clear the national car was a political decision because it was based on a presidential decree and instruction," Mar'ie said.

"The presidential decree and instruction were used to justify (Soeharto's) political decision."

A decree issued by Soeharto in February 1996 ruled that producers of the national car would be granted exemptions on import duties and luxury taxes, which add about 60 percent to car prices in Indonesia.

Since Soeharto resigned in May, the national car project has figured prominently in questioning by prosecutors over rampant allegations of corruption leveled at him.

The government is giving Timor 30 days from Dec. 11 to pay about Rp 3 trillion in overdue taxes.

Soeharto told state prosecutors earlier this month that Mar'ie was among his top aides who knew much about the project.

Separately, former president Soeharto's half brother Probosutedjo said students demanding Soeharto's prosecution were acting on incorrect information about his alleged fortune. He characterized Soeharto's reputed riches as a "little, valueless fish" compared to tycoons who accrued greater fortunes.

The outspoken businessmen said state possessions stolen for personal gain by tycoons, including members of the banking sector, dwarfed Soeharto's assets.

"It is those tycoons who must be investigated and not this little thing which may even not exist at all," Probosutedjo told journalists at his office.

The owner of the Mercua Buana Group said students should instead focus on tycoons who enriched themselves and fled with their fortunes as soon as the country's economy worsened.

"Do not just try to catch little fish but (consequently) miss the much bigger fish," he said. (byg/prb)