Sapuan acted 'beyond authority'

Sapuan acted 'beyond authority'

JAKARTA (JP): Former Bulog deputy chief Sapuan acted beyond
his authority when he ordered the State Logistics Agency's
employee foundation to release Rp 35 billion to a close
confidante of President Abdurrahman Wahid, an investigator said
on Tuesday.

Djamalsyah Effendi Wahab, a former comptroller with Bulog,
told the South Jakarta District Court that according to the
foundation's statutes, Sapuan should have consulted the
supervisory body before giving such an order in January.

Sapuan should also have called for a meeting to discuss the
disbursement of such a huge sum of money, Djamalsyah said.

Sapuan, 57, who has since lost his job at Bulog, has been
charged with embezzling the foundation's money.

Insisting he is innocent, he has said that he ordered the
money to be released to Suwondo, Abdurrahman's masseur, in the
belief that the President had personally asked for the money to
be used for a government humanitarian program in Aceh.

Suwondo, who is wanted by the police in connection with the
scam, has been at large since the scandal became public in April.

Acknowledging that Sapuan was managing Bulog's day-to-day
operation on behalf of the agency's chief Jusuf Kalla, who was
then also the minister of industry and trade, Djamalsyah said the
authority did not extend to principled matters, like the
disbursement of huge sums of money.

Three other foundation executives presented to the court by
the prosecutors, however, testified on Tuesday that Sapuan had
full authority from Jusuf Kalla to manage Bulog.

Muhamad Yacob Ishak (treasurer), Istiah (administration staff)
and Jaborotan Nasution (secretary) all recalled Jusuf Kalla's
statement on Dec. 22 before Bulog executives that he was
entrusting the day-to-day running of the agency to Sapuan.

Both Yacob and Jaborotan retracted written statements they
gave to the police earlier in which they said the disbursement
violated procedures.

Yacob said the police had managed to recover Rp 16.5 billion
of the money, including Rp 10 billion returned by Suwondo's wife.

Government prosecutors have also confiscated assets belonging
to Suwondo, including the title to 200 hectares of land in
Cianjur, West Java, and three luxury cars.

Two of the cars were on display in the court's parking lot.

The panel of judges ordered the prosecutors on Tuesday to
transfer the Rp 16.5 billion money to the court's bank account.

Presiding judge Lalu Mariyun, who last week dismissed the
corruption trial of former president Soeharto on grounds of ill
health, adjourned the trial until next Tuesday. (01)