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)