Perhutani president grilled over alleged scams
Perhutani president grilled over alleged scams
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The president director of ailing state-owned forestry firm PT
Perhutani, Marsanto, was questioned by police on Wednesday as a
witness in two corruption cases.
The company's director of planning and development, Bambang
Aji, was questioned on Wednesday as a suspect in both cases.
"We suspect him in two separate corruption cases that caused
massive losses to the state," said a police source.
The source said the first case was related to several PR
projects being carried out by Perhutani. The projects, costing Rp
43.4 billion, were part of efforts to improve the company's
corporate image.
Police allege the projects were never implemented and were
created solely to siphon off the company's net profit of Rp 111
billion. The projects were announced after the government issued
a decree converting the company from a non-profit to a profit-
oriented firm.
Most of the projects never materialized and police believe the
money earmarked for them was embezzled, the police source said.
The source said the second corruption case involved
Perhutani's joint project with German-based Global Marketing for
the marketing of its products.
"The management stopped the project before it was fully
materialized, claiming it was a failure.
"As the president director, Marsanto was in a position to be
aware of the projects. But we have no witnesses to confirm the
allegations. That is why we are still interrogating him
(Marsanto) as a witness," the police source said.
The source said those in the firm were being tight-lipped over
the cases, making the investigation difficult.
Perhutani's status was changed from a non-profit firm to a
profit-oriented one in 2001 during the administration of
president Abdurrahman Wahid.
The move was aimed at lifting the cash-strapped company out of
financial difficulties, which owed to the shortage of timber on
Java and Madura. Perhutani manages forest areas on both islands.
The government reversed Perhutani's status back to that of a
non-profit firm after the Supreme Court annulled the previous
government decree.