Police detain two for embezzling SEA Games funds

Police detain two for embezzling SEA Games funds

JAKARTA (JP): The National Police has detained two suspects
for their alleged involvement in embezzling last year's 19th SEA
Games sticker funds collected from the public over 18 months.

National Police deputy spokesman Col. Bambang Haryoko told
a media conference yesterday that officers are currently looking
for three other suspects, identified only as YF, IR and DH. The
three are on the police's most wanted list, he said.

Bambang said the two detained suspects, identified as Hartono
Santoso and Tosi Hertiyono, were arrested last month.

They were employees of PT Angkasa Rona Graha, a private
company appointed to be one of the partners of a consortium in
charge of raising funds for the SEA Games.

"The five allegedly embezzled the money obtained from SEA
Games sticker sales at various government and private
institutions.

"The suspects also counterfeited several documents ordering
sticker funds collection, as if the letters were from the SEA
Games consortium, even though in reality the money was sent to
their own bank accounts," Bambang explained.

It is not yet known how much the five suspects allegedly
embezzled.

Hartono and YF, for example, faked letters and documents
ordering the transfer of Rp 594 million collected by the Jakarta
Revenue Agency to their own accounts, he said.

Tosi appropriated Rp 417.6 million from PT Excelkomindo
Pratama, another private institution assigned to sell the
stickers, through an account under his name.

The two other suspects, IR and DH, used the same strategy and
took Rp 150 million in sticker funds from the West Kalimantan
Revenue Agency.

The swindling is believed to have occurred between September
and December last year, Bambang said.

"We have conducted a thorough investigation into the matter
since May 1, when we officially received the report. Hopefully we
can capture the three other suspects and solve this case,"
Bambang added.

The police confiscated, as evidence, copies of the Ministry of
Social Affairs's decree stating the appointment of the 19th SEA
Games consortium and its other partners as well as several fake
documents used by the suspects to obtain the money, he said.

"The National Police detective unit will send letters to the
minister of finance to get more information about permits for the
use of the suspects' bank accounts.

"We will also send letters to the attorney general and even
the President to summon all members of 19th SEA Games consortium
and related parties involved in this case as witnesses," Bambang
said, without naming them.

"Wait for further results of our investigation."

There are no definite figures on how much the consortium
raised in the sticker sales from July 1996 to December last year.

The stickers, imposed on telephone, water and electricity
users, airplane passengers and car owners, were sold under a
ministerial decree issued by then minister of social services
Endang Kusuma Inten Soeweno.

In its audited report, submitted to the then state minister of
youth and sports affairs, Agung Laksono, in April, the consortium
said it suffered a Rp 64 billion deficit, down Rp 4 billion from
its previous reported loss.

The report is being questioned by the Indonesian Consumers
Foundation, which has urged the House of Representatives to
examine the accountability report submitted by the SEA Games
underwriting consortium. The federation believed it lacked
transparency.

The foundation had planned to file a lawsuit against the
consortium over the lack of transparency in its management of the
public funds but in late April Agung Laksono decided to submit
the case to National Police for further investigation. (edt)