Revolution Fund doesn't exist: Sudharmono

Revolution Fund doesn't exist: Sudharmono

JAKARTA (JP): Former vice president Sudharmono yesterday
denied the existence of a Revolution Fund and offered to anyone
who can prove otherwise a share of the Fund as a reward.

Sudharmono made the remarks even as the Attorney General's
Office launched a new investigation into the existence of the
Fund which was allegedly established in the early 1960s by
President Sukarno.

Sudharmono, who in his capacity as Secretary of State in the
mid-1980s, headed a government team which attempted to locate the
Fund.

"The government has already looked for it overseas. It came to
the conclusion that it didn't exist. That's why the government
did not feel the need to go after it.

"If someone out there claims to know the whereabouts of the
Fund, then let's treat it like a lost treasure -- they can have a
share of what they find," Sudharmono said during a meeting with
reporters in which he discussed preparations for the 20th
anniversary of the Dharmais Foundation, Antara reported.

The Foundation, a charity organization headed by President
Soeharto, counts senior statesmen, including Sudharmono, among
its patrons.

Sudharmono has been a close confidante of President Soeharto
since the early years of his presidency. He served as Secretary
of State, a powerful position in the government, in 1983-88, and
later as Vice President from 1988 to 1993.

He recalled that President Soeharto, in the early years of his
presidency, set up a special team to try to locate all state
funds abroad, including the Revolution Fund.

The search came to nought, Sudharmono said.

Another attempt to locate the Revolution Fund was made in 1987
when the subject became public knowledge. Again, the search came
to a dead end.

The controversy over the Revolution Fund resurfaced again this
week with the imminent release of Soebandrio, a former deputy
prime minister who has been incarcerated since 1966 for his role
in the 1965 coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party.

Soebandrio, who has been given clemency from the President and
will be released from life imprisonment on Aug. 16, is believed
to be the only person who knows the whereabouts of the Revolution
Fund -- if it exists at all.

The fund was amassed by President Sukarno through special
taxes on various enterprises and was intended to finance some of
the government's war efforts in the 1960s, including the campaign
to wrestle Irian Jaya from Dutch hands and the "Confrontation"
against Malaysia.

There has been speculation that the money, what's left of it,
has been stashed in various foreign bank accounts, including one
in Switzerland, which can only be accessed with Soebandrio's
signature.

Estimates of the Fund's size range from as little as $135
million to as much as $25 billion, including accrued interest.

The Attorney General's Office yesterday disclosed that it sent
two senior officials on Wednesday to ask Soebandrio about the
existence of the Fund.

The two officials, Gatot Hendrarto (chief of Intelligence
Operation Center) and Benny Arli Jasin (director for economic and
financial affairs), met with Soebandrio at the Cipinang
correctional facility.

Basrief declined to comment on the results of the meeting,
saying only that the meeting was resumed yesterday.

He said officials of the Attorney General's Office yesterday
conducted separate interviews with Soebandrio's wife Sri
Kusdyantinah, Soebandrio's nephew Hari, and the family's lawyer,
Amin Aryoso, who are all believed to have some knowledge of the
Fund.

Government officials have denied that Soebandrio's release was
contingent upon his pledge of full cooperation with the
government in recovering the Fund.

Minister of Defense and Security Gen. (ret.) Edi Sudradjat
yesterday said that the main thing the government must do is
determine if the fund does exists.

"So far, it's existence is only based on hearsay. We need to
check the matter and resolve the issue once and for all," he said
in Yogyakarta, as reported by Antara. (emb/imn)