Sumarlin testifies in Bahana graft case

Sumarlin testifies in Bahana graft case

JAKARTA (JP): Former minister of finance J.B. Sumarlin on
Thursday testified as a witness in the investigation into the Rp
1.1 trillion (US$91.6 million) corruption case related to state-
owned investment company PT Bahana Pembinaan Usaha Indonesia
(BPUI), which implicated his predecessor Ali Wardhana.

Spokesman to the Attorney General's Office Muljohardjo said
Sumarlin, who held the post from 1988 to 1993, was asked
questions about the signing of an agreement on a management
cooperation between his office and BPUI which he had signed in
his capacity as the minister of finance.

BPUI itself is jointly owned by the Ministry of Finance and
the central bank, where the ministry holds 20 percent of its
shares and the central bank holds the remaining 80 percent,
Muljohardjo said.

"The prosecutors, led by Budiman Rahardjo, also queried the
former minister over an agreement to appoint a private investment
company PT Artha Investa Arga (AIA) as partner to BPUI in the
management cooperation," he added.

Sumarlin admitted that he had signed the agreement between
BPUI shareholders and PT AIA shareholders, but refused to give
further explanation.

"I'm in a hurry. I have to attend my mother's burial today in
Blitar, East Java," he told reporters after the seven-hour
session.

An investigation by the prosecutors revealed that BPUI had
allegedly embezzled some Rp 1.1 trillion when taking over the
debt of publicly-listed timber company PT Barito Pacific in
exchange for shares.

The debt was Rp 1.7 trillion but BPUI only paid Barito some Rp
600 billion, prosecutors stated.

The prosecutors had named Ali, BPUI president commissioner,
who was the finance minister from 1968 to 1983, as suspect, along
with BPUI president director Sudjiono Tiran.

On the same day, former account officer of BPUI Angki Hermawan
was also questioned as a witness for Sudjiono.

He was asked to reveal his knowledge about transactions made
with PT Barito, Muljohardjo said.

Meanwhile, businessman Robby Tjahjadi was also questioned as a
witness over the alleged assets mark-up at his company PT
Kanindotex when being taken over by his friend, Johannes Kotjo in
May 1995, through Apac Century Corporation (PT ACen), a
consortium where Robby holds 36.6 percent shares.

Robby and Johannes had been named as suspects in the case.

According to Muljohardjo, Robby revealed that Johannes then
proposed a credit restructuring deal with the now defunct Bank
Bumi Daya (BBD).

Later, in order to fulfill the restructuring prerequisites,
Johannes marked up the value of the company's assets from $2.4
million to $10.4 million, Muljohardjo said.

"According to a notarial document in 1995, Robby still owned
his shares in the consortium and had received $70 million from
the sale of his assets," he added.

However, Robby's lawyer Eri Hertiawan said that his client
never received the said amount from the consortium and was not
involved in the restructuring plan since Robby had been staying
in Singapore from 1994 to 1998. (bby)