Moerdiono gives testimony in $9.3m corruption case

Moerdiono gives testimony in $9.3m corruption case

JAKARTA (JP): After having "disappeared" for months following
the resignation of president Soeharto, former minister/state
secretary Moerdiono turned up again on Monday.

This time he appeared not for a political statement but to
give his testimony at the Central Jakarta District Court in the
US$9.3 million corruption case involving the construction of the
Taman Kemayoran condominium block.

Attired in brown long-sleeved shirt and trousers, Moerdiono --
who was famous while in Soeharto's Cabinet for his stuttering
delivery when disclosing government policy -- often replied to
questions raised by the panel of judges by saying that he had no
idea about many details in the documents relating to the project.

"I don't remember, your honors. There were too many documents
I had to sign when I was a minister. So, it's impossible for me
to remember all of them," he said.

Moerdiono's testimony was related to the case bringing the
director of the state-run Kemayoran Development and Control Board
(DP3KK), Hindro Tjahjono Soemardjan, and president of private
developer PT Duta Adhiputra, Seno Margono, alias Tjiong Tjek
Seng, as defendants.

DP3KK is under the supervision of state secretary and controls
the development of the proposed 454-hectare Kemayoran satellite
city project launched since 1990

The Kemayoran project is expected to be the home to dozens of
major development projects, including the condominium, the
ambitious 558-meter-high Jakarta Tower, a golf course, a
sophisticated business and telecommunications center, luxury
apartments, schools and hospitals.

Prosecutor Hamid Tahir told the court on Monday that PT Duta
Adhiputra, the developer for the condominium block, had only
submitted Rp 9 billion to the board as of April 1996 from the
time that the construction work on the project started in 1993.

The amount of the payment, he said, is only half of the land
value of $9.3 million, which should be at least Rp 18 billion at
the conversion rate of Rp 2,000 per dollar, meaning that the
developer has caused the state Rp 9 billion in losses.

Fact

When asked to comment on the fact, Moerdiono in his testimony
replied: "I could not say that it's a loss. Maybe it's just a
first payment," he said calmly.

Hamid earlier charged the defendants with having illegally
used the land to put up as collateral against a bank loan, saying
that they should have first got approval from the state
secretary.

In his testimony, Moerdiono told the court many times that he
did not remember having signed any document or not, but he
insisted that he had given full authority to the board to handle
the project.

According to Moerdiono, he had in his capacity as a minister
at that time given authority to the board for the construction of
the condominium building which stands on a 25,000-square-meter
plot belonging to the state in the defunct Kemayoran airport in
Central Jakarta.

The four-hour trial which started at 9 a.m was also attended
by several DP3KK employees and noted sociologist Selo Soemardjan,
Hindro's father.

Before leaving the court room, Moerdiono apologized to the
panel of judges, prosecutors, and the defendants' lawyers.

"I apologize if there were mistakes during my testimony. It
was my first experience entering a courtroom, your honors," he
said.

Both Hindro and Seno, who were accompanied by lawyers Amir
Syamsuddin and Alamsjah Hanafiah respectively, did not reject
Moerdiono's testimony.

Presiding judge Purwanto adjourned the trial until next week
to hear other witnesses' testimonies.

Prosecutor Hamid earlier said Seno and Hindro, who were once
detained but then released on bail, signed a cooperation
agreement on March 17, 1993, to construct the condominium project
with a capital commitment of US$61.87 million.

He said that under the agreement the board would provide the
Kemayoran plot worth US$9.3 million as part of the capital, while
Seno would provide the remaining capital commitment of US$52.5
million.

In reality, however, Seno never provided the capital and even,
allegedly with Hindro's approval, converted the status of the
land from state assets into company assets to acquire the loan,
he said.

Hamid said Seno then used the land certificates to acquire a
loan amounting to Rp 65 billion from a bank syndicate led by Bank
PDFCI.

He said Seno, who is also the son-in-law of businessman Hendra
Rahardja, the owner of the BHS Group, had used Rp 48 billion of
the loan to further his company's interests.

Hamid charged the defendants under Article 1 (a) of Corruption
Law No. 3/1971, which carries a maximum penalty of a life
sentence and or a fine of Rp 30 million. (jun)