Sudjana denies allegations of bank transfer fraud

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana said yesterday he had not spent a cent of the Rp 50 billion (US$23.36 million) transferred from PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam into his bank account.

But Sudjana told a House commission hearing the then president of state-owned PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam, Ambyo Mangunwidjaja, transferred the money into his bank account on April 13, 1994.

All members of Commission VI for Industry, Mines and Investment attended the hearing.

In an emotional voice the minister denied all allegations of misuse and unlawful transfer of funds.

"All the mass media reports which questioned the use and transfer of the funds are complete slander deliberately blown up to discredit me," Sudjana said.

He said he instructed Ambyo to transfer Rp 100 billion of the funds collected by PT Tambang Batubara from its private coal mining contractors to his bank account at the Thamrin branch of the state-owned Bank Dagang Negara on Jan. 24, 1994.

But Ambyo transferred only Rp 50 billion into the account, Sudjana said.

However, Ambyo told the weekly news magazine Gatra recently that he and other PT Tambang Batubara directors initially refused the transfer order because it was against regulations.

But Ambyo said he later transferred Rp 40 billion to the minister's bank account and reported the transfer to the Government Finance Comptroller and Supreme Audit Agency.

Ambyo and the other PT Tambang Batubara directors were sacked in August, 1994.

"I ordered the transfer of the funds to the minister's bank account mainly with a view to protecting the state money from wasteful spending by PT Tambang Batubara," he said.

Sudjana said he learnt at that time the funds (totaling Rp 288.4 billion) PT Tambang Batubara got from mining contractors as the government's revenue from mining concessions had not been transferred to the state treasury.

The controversial transfer emerged when House member Tadjoedin Noer Said questioned Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad on the matter two weeks ago.

Sudjana said the transfer had been made with the finance minister's and President's approval.

"Not a single cent of the funds has been spent. Everybody can verify the truth of my statement at the bank," he said.

He then asked the chief of the manpower ministry's finance bureau, who sat behind him during the hearing, to produce the transfer documents.

Sudjana expressed astonishment as to why the two-year-old transfer had suddenly become a controversy.

In a related development, Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad told the House Budgetary Commission Tuesday the procedures for transferring state funds to ministries needed streamlining.

Mar'ie said the funds transferred to the Sudjana's account were being used to develop coal briquettes.

But House member Tadjoedin Noer Said refuted this and said the coal briquette development was a private project.

"My question then, is what are the state funds for?" Tadjoedin asked. The finance minister did not reply. (bnt/vin)