Oka questioned over embezzlement

Oka questioned over embezzlement

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Former state minister of population and
head of the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN)
Ida Bagus Oka was questioned on Thursday at the Bali prosecutor's
office over embezzlement allegations.

The allegations center around transactions at the National
Sports Council's (KONI) Bali chapter.

The questioning, by prosecutor I Gusti Ngurah Santosa, lasted
for over two hours. Santosa asked 65 written questions, which Oka
gave written answers to. Santosa denied charges that the office
had handed Oka written questions because it was frightened to
question the former Bali governor properly.

"It's only to make the questioning easier and well-
documented."

The prosecutor focused his questions on cash flow at the Bali
chapter from 1994 to 1999, the period Oka served as the chapter's
chairman.

The corruption allegations first surfaced when the
prosecutor's office found that chapter officials had failed to
submit an accountability report on a budget of Rp 1.6 billion
(US$201,260) covering the period in question. The money was
raised by the Bali Dwipa Foundation, which was founded by Oka.

The prosecutor's office have announced that Nyoman Sugiri,
former KONI Bali chapter secretary-general and the foundation's
chairman, is as a suspect.

"We have questioned 15 out of 20 witnesses. The court has
ordered Sugiri's assets be seized. We are still waiting for Bank
Indonesia's order to block his personal savings account in BNI 46
Bank and Bank Pembangunan Daerah," Santosa said.

Santosa said he was unsure if Oka would be declared a suspect
in the case and would wait for a later investigation.

Oka himself declined to answer media questions.

"I didn't actively chair KONI. I think other officials knew of
the case better," he said. (zen)