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)