Sugar money to stay with prosecutors

Sugar money to stay with prosecutors

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office decided to allow the North Jakarta
Prosecutor's Office to keep, for the time being, the Rp 180
billion (US$20 million) in proceeds from the auction of over
56,000 tons of smuggled sugar as evidence in an ongoing case.

Spokesman RJ Soehandojo told a media conference on Tuesday
that the prosecutor's office could not hand over the money to the
state treasury agency "because we must wait until there is a
final court ruling on the case".

The government confiscated tons of illegally imported sugar
from several warehouses in Jakarta and Bogor last year, and put
it up for auction. Distributor PT Angel Products won the bid in
December and paid Rp 180 billion to the state's auction
committee, which entrusted the money to the district prosecutor's
office where the auction took place as required by standard
procedures.

Police have named the chairman of the Confederation of Primary
Cooperatives Association, Nurdin Halid, as a suspect in the sugar
smuggling case. The prosecutors, however, have not brought the
case to court citing a lack of solid evidence.

Many people have expressed concern that the case, if it is
brought to court, will take several years to conclude due to the
country's long court procedures.

"The Ministry of Finance and related bodies should monitor the
state money being held by the prosecutor's office to make sure
that all the money, plus the months of interest accrued is handed
over to the state," legal expert Rudy Satrio remarked.