Soeharto 'may face corruption charges'

Soeharto 'may face corruption charges'

JAKARTA (JP): Further checks are needed before former
president Soeharto can be declared a suspect in a corruption
case, Attorney General Andi Ghalib said Wednesday.

"Based on information obtained from those questioned, it looks
like it is heading the way of Soeharto becoming a suspect, but we
cannot immediately say so. We have to recheck the evidence,"
Ghalib told reporters.

He said his office is in the process of cross-checking the
results of Soeharto's questioning with that of former ministers
and government officials concerned.

"After all the evidence has been collected, we will cross-
check for the truth with each party concerned, from former
directors general, former ministers, and former officials. Then
we will see what Soeharto's position is, and whether it is strong
enough to name him as a suspect. Then we will take the next
step," Ghalib said.

Ghalib specifically mentioned a corruption case over a tax-
exempt national car project headed by Soeharto's youngest son,
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, and the issuance of presidential
and ministerial decrees on it.

Soeharto and his former key aides -- including former industry
and trade ministers Tunky Ariwibowo and Muhammad "Bob" Hasan and
former minister of finance Mar'ie Muhammad -- have been recently
questioned over the car project.

Under the program, PT Timor Putra National, a company
controlled by Tommy, was given a multi-million dollar soft loan
from a consortium of 16 banks, including state banks, to produce
the so-called Timor national car. It was also given huge tax
exemption for the import of the cars from South Korea.

On Wednesday, former director general for custom and excise
Soehardjo was also questioned over the tax facilities.

Accompanied by his lawyer Amin Aryoso, Soehardjo told the
investigators he was in the position to implement the 1996
presidential and ministerial decrees on the tax facilities,
according to the Attorney General Office's spokesman Barman
Zahir.

Meanwhile, Ghalib insisted the political meeting between
Soeharto and Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid would not detract
from his office's investigation into the allegations of
corruption in the car project.

"The investigation will continue because it has nothing to do
with the national dialog involving Soeharto," he said.

Asked for comment about the lawsuit filed by Timor Putra
National against the Attorney General's Office, Ghalib said both
he and his office were ready to face up to it.

"We are ready to face any lawsuits... We have faced numerous
lawsuits over government decisions and policies... the President,
the minister of defense and security, the chief of the National
Police, have all faced lawsuits, and we too are ready to face
them," he said.

Sudjono, Timor Putra's lawyer, said the company had refused to
pay Rp 3.09 trillion in back taxes and import duties to the
government because it was not stipulated in the World Trade
Organization's decision and, on the contrary, would sue the
government in an attempt to be exempted from the obligation.

"Despite its closure, Timor Putra cannot be obliged to pay
taxes which were already a facility for the company," he said.

He said his client filed the lawsuit against the minister of
finance in the Central Jakarta Court on Dec. 17, a day before the
deadline set by the government for the company to pay the taxes.

The government asked Timor Putra to meet the tax obligation
following the recent decision by the WTO Disputes Settlement Body
and the agreement between the government and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) that all facilities given to Timor Putra were
to be lifted.

Sudjono pledged that his party would uncover corrupt and
nepotistic practices and collusion which were rampant behind the
car industry which has caused huge material losses to the
company. (rms/prb)