No idea where Tansil could be: Government

No idea where Tansil could be: Government

JAKARTA (JP): The government admitted yesterday it has no idea
where Eddy Tansil, the business tycoon who escaped from prison
more than one month ago, has gone.

"We are continuing to hunt him but there is no clue to his
whereabouts," Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman told Commission
III of the House of Representatives in a hearing on legal
affairs.

Tansil's escape dominated the hearing. He was jailed in 1994
for defrauding the state-owned Bank Pembangunan Indonesia
(Bapindo) of US$620 million.

Tansil, who was serving a 20-year prison term walked out of
Cipinang prison after allegedly bribing warders on May 4.

All of the 18 commission members who had questions and
comments for the minister raised the prison escape issue, which
they said was unbearably embarrassing for Indonesian law
enforcers.

They asked about the latest developments in the government's
efforts to recapture the tycoon, as well as the alleged
involvement of government officials in Tansil's escape.

Oetojo said the government has recouped only Rp 100 million
($42,500) of the about 450 million which Tansil was to return.

"Eddy Tansil's wealth can be seized any time, if the
authorities know he has property left in Indonesia," Oetojo said.

Legislator Andjojo Putro said that Eddy's escape was a
disgrace to the justice system in Indonesia. He alleged that
Eddy's escape was made possible by the help of officials.

"The moral of the Tansil escape story is to not fire honest
judges, just fire the bad ones," he said.

Oetojo said he had no evidence of the involvement of
government officials. He speculated that Tansil might have used a
fake passport. (01)