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)