Police accuse Rachman of embezzling charity funds
Police accuse Rachman of embezzling charity funds
Ali Kotarumalos, Associated Press, Jakarta
Already under investigation for corruption, Indonesia's attorney
general was accused by police Friday of embezzling thousands of
dollars from a charity set up to help refugees.
Police say they found evidence that Attorney General Muhammad
Abdul Rachman siphoned Rp 150 million (US$16,600) from a fund
that provided assistance to refugees forced from their homes by
ethnic fighting in Kalimantan.
The latest allegation comes as Rachman is fighting accusations
that he misled state investigators by providing them with false
data.
He was accused of failing to include a villa in a posh Jakarta
neighborhood and a number of bank accounts in his compulsory
report to the Commission of Investigation of the Wealth of State
Officials.
Rachman, who has long been a target of anti-graft activists
for his lavish lifestyle, has so far resisted calls from members
of Parliament to resign.
A former prosecutor who first revealed Rachman's alleged
financial wrongdoing has been jailed and charged with swindle and
embezzlement.
After receiving a complaint from the investigating commission,
police began examining about Rp 800 million in Rachman's bank
account. They allege that some of the money earmarked for
refugees was used to buy a car for the attorney general.
"Investigators suspect that Rp 150 million of a fund for
Madurese refugees was embezzled by Attorney General Abdul
Rachman," said chief investigator Col. Marsudi Hanafi. "Rachman
gave the money to a lawyer who then gave it to one of his
colleagues to buy a car."
A spokesman for the Attorney General's office, Antazari Azhar,
said he couldn't comment until the police investigation is
completed.
Indonesia has been dogged for decades by corruption, but
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has vowed to clean up the
government.
Since taking office last year, parliamentary speaker Akbar
Tandjung has been found guilty of misusing government funds and
sentenced to three years in prison.
Last month, a former Indonesian Cabinet minister Rahardi
Ramelan was sentenced to two years in prison over the same
scandal. He was found guilty of illegally authorizing the
withdrawal of the funds.