Probosutedjo charged with graft

JAKARTA: The step brother of former president Soeharto, Probosutedjo, went on trial Thursday for allegedly embezzling state reforestation funds from 1993 to 2002 that cost the state over Rp 100 billion.

The 72-year-old businessman sat quietly when chief prosecutor I Ketut Murtika accused him of violating the Anticorruption Law that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Probosutejo's companies had agreed to prepare 250,000 hectares of land to be used for logging and for building a pulp company in South Kalimantan, according to the indictment.

But the project was never fully completed and Probosutejo had not returned some 38.81 billion rupiah in excess funds to the state.

Probosutedjo is the latest member of the Soeharto clan to face charges. The trial will resume next week. -- JP