Spokesman denies Sudjana's $21 million fraud
Spokesman denies Sudjana's $21 million fraud
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Mines and Energy's secretary-
general, Umar Said, yesterday denied press reports that his boss,
Minister I.B. Sudjana, had channeled Rp 50 billion (US$21.36
million) from PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam into his personal
bank account.
"The reports on the personal account were too much. We may sue
the source of that information," Umar told a press conference
held to rebut reports on "irregularities" at the ministry.
Umar said the media reports on Sudjana over the last few
weeks had become too personal, particularly those on the
minister's bank account and Director General of Mines Kuntoro
Mangkusubroto.
Minister Sudjana was not at the press conference. A spokesman
for the ministry said he had gone to India after attending the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' ministerial
meeting in Vienna last week.
Sudjana denied the reports on embezzlement from the state coal
mining company in a long-distance telephone interview from Vienna
last week with the Gatra newsweekly magazine.
He said he had reported on the company's funds to President
Soeharto but did not tell the magazine what the funds were used
for.
"It is complete slander," Sudjana retorted to a question from
Gatra on why he transferred Rp 50 billion of the company's money
to his personal account.
But Ambyo Mangunwidjaja, who was the president of Tambang
Batubara until August 1994, confirmed receiving a letter from
minister Sudjana in the third quarter of 1994 which ordered him
to transfer Rp 50 billion from Tambang Batubara to the minister's
bank account.
Sudjana stated in his letter the money would be used for a
revolving fund to improve the welfare of the ministry's staff.
"I and the other members of the management first ignored the
letter because it was against regulations. But we later (under
pressure) decided to make the transfer but only to the sum Rp 40
billion," Ambyo told Gatra.
Ambyo said he and the other directors then released a joint
statement expressing their objections to the transfer. They then
reported the transfer to Tambang Batubara's board of supervisors,
the Government Finance Comptroller and the Supreme Audit Agency.
Ambyo and his fellow directors were sacked in August 1994.
Kuntoro reportedly also questioned the transfer.
In October, Sudjana stripped Kuntoro of his authority to issue
final contracts of work for mining, except for oil and natural
gas.
The controversial transfer surfaced when House member
Tadjoedin Nur Said questioned the finance minister at a House of
Representatives' hearing last week.
Tadjoedin asked why the funds, estimated at Rp 288.4 billion,
received by Tambang Batubara from coal mining contractors as the
government's share of its mines' output, had been banked in a
Ministry of Mines and Energy account and not transferred directly
to the treasury according to Presidential Instruction No.75/1996.
Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad confirmed the existence of
the funds which he said totaled Rp 288.4 billion but he declined
to explain their status.
When Umar was questioned by reporters yesterday on why the
minister removed Kuntoro's authority, he said: "It is part of our
effort to streamline our institution. Please don't see the
decision per se as an isolated case." (bnt/vin)