No losses in Goro case: Witnesses
No losses in Goro case: Witnesses
JAKARTA (JP): Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son
of former president Soeharto charged for his alleged role in a Rp
95.4 billion (US$10.9 million) land scam, smiled on Monday when
two witnesses said nobody suffered any losses in the case.
The two witnesses from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog),
Ruskandar and M. Noor, told the South Jakarta District Court that
they retracted their statements in earlier dossiers that the
agency suffered losses in its cooperation with wholesaler PT Goro
Batara Sakti, in which Tommy held shares.
"Bulog even gained profits after the cooperation was canceled
this year," Ruskandar, the agency's deputy chief in charge of
finance, said.
Asked by presiding judge R. Soenarto whether he had been
intimidated when giving a statement to investigators, Ruskandar
said no, adding that he only realized later that the agency
suffered no losses after the cooperation was canceled by Bulog's
new chief, Rahardi Ramelan, in March, this year.
He acknowledged that he was questioned in December in
connection with alleged corruption in an exchange agreement of
Bulog's 50-hectare plot of land in Kelapa Gading warehouse
complex, North Jakarta.
The agreement required Goro to provide another 150-hectare
plot of land in Marunda, North Jakarta, in exchange for the
Kelapa Gading land, he said.
Although Goro only provided 71 hectares in Marunda, Ruskandar
said Bulog still profited from the deal since the Kelapa Gading
land had been returned to the agency.
He said Bulog did not violate any law when it gave a guarantee
of Rp 23 billion to Goro to get a loan of Rp 20 billion from Bank
Bukopin. The loan was then used to buy some of the Marunda land.
Judge Soenarto repeatedly chided Ruskandar for giving
unnecessary explanations when answering the questions of
prosecutor Fachmi. "Just say true or not."
Several visitors booed Ruskandar.
The other witness, M. Noor, who is Bulog's regional inspector,
gave a similar testimony on Monday.
"I said that Bulog suffered losses in December before the
cooperation was canceled this year," said Noor, who was head of
the Jakarta Logistics Agency (Dolog Jaya) when the agreement was
signed in 1995.
He said the land exchange was decided through an open tender
and was approved by Soeharto.
Prosecutor Fachmi, who presented the two witnesses to the
court, regretted Ruskandar's contradictory statements.
"Let the panel of judges evaluate the testimonies," Fachmi
said.
Wearing a brown batik shirt and black trousers, Tommy said he
had no objection to the witnesses' testimonies.
Judge Soenarto adjourned the trial until next week to hear
other testimonies. (jun)