Soeharto's wealth abroad not found yet

Soeharto's wealth abroad not found yet

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Lt. Gen. A.M. Ghalib announced
on Tuesday that his office, in cooperation with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, has yet to find any wealth belonging to former
president Soeharto overseas.

He was quoted by Antara as saying in Jakarta that both offices
reached the preliminary conclusion that "there has been no
discovery of Soeharto's wealth abroad either in the form of bank
accounts, deposits, land or houses."

The result of months of work by both offices, dated Feb. 2,
would be submitted to President B.J. Habibie soon, he said at a
belated post-Idul Fitri gathering at his office. Among attendants
was former attorney general Ismail Saleh.

The attorney general office's spokesman, Soehandoyo, described
the failed attempts of the Indonesian Embassy in Britain to find
any data or information on the money reportedly kept in
Indonesian banks in London under the names of Soeharto and his
family members.

For its part in the task of tracking down and if possible
retrieving Soeharto's reported overseas wealth, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said it gathered reports from at least 16
Indonesian embassies in Rome, Damascus, Vanimo, Riyadh,
Pyongyang, The Hague, Paris, Tokyo, Canberra, Wellington,
Washington, Houston, Luxembourg, Beograd, London and Brussels.

"In Washington, it was difficult to seek any information about
Soeharto's wealth as the issue was considered too complex and
sensitive there," Soehandoyo said.

He added the Luxembourg government had promised to help with
the investigation only if the case was brought to trial.

Meanwhile, a note of support and confidence was voiced on
Tuesday by Ismail Saleh who expressed the belief that Ghalib's
office had actually made efforts to uncover the corrupt practices
of Soeharto and his family and associates.

"This (search for the reported wealth) is being run on a
decree of the People's Consultative Assembly and a presidential
instruction," he said. He also expressed hope the case could be
settled soon, either by it being resolved or dismissed if there
was a lack of evidence.

"I hope (the allegations of ill-gotten wealth) are proved by
legal evidence. But if there's no proof... you cannot force it.
If there were is no evidence of criminal offense, the
investigation must be called off," Ismail said.

Soeharto, the target of a government corruption probe, said
last December he was ready to face questioning, but he also
pleaded for the public to stop condemning him and his family.

In November last year, disappointed and angry students
presented a black chicken to Ghalib following his steadfast
refusal to set a deadline for the investigation into Soeharto's
wealth.

Soeharto was eventually questioned, over allegations of
corruption during his 32 years in power, for the first time in a
three-hour session by government prosecutors under heavy security
on Dec. 10 last year. (edt)