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)