Suspect returns last tranche of alleged graft Bulog money
Suspect returns last tranche of alleged graft Bulog money
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A suspect in a high-profile corruption case returned the last
tranche of Rp 7.5 billion on Tuesday of the misused State
Logistics Agency (Bulog) funds to the government.
The money was returned by Winfried Simatupang's family and
lawyers, spokesman of the Attorney General's Office Barman Zahir
announced on Tuesday, referring to the suspect in the Bulog
financial scam, which has also implicated Speaker of the House of
Representatives Akbar Tandjung.
Akbar, who is also chairman of Golkar, is now in detention at
the Attorney General's Office, while Winfried and other suspects
in the case including former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan and
Dadang Sukandar are being detained at Cipinang Penitentiary in
East Jakarta.
The four were charged with embezzling Rp 40 billion out of Rp
54.6 billion disbursed by the Habibie government in 1999 for a
food distribution program.
Winfried had earlier claimed that he had used all the Rp 40
billion for distributing 1.6 million food packages to five
provinces in Java.
The Attorney General's Office announced last Saturday that
Winfried had returned Rp 32.5 billion in eight installments over
a two-week period. The latest installment was Rp 5 billion on
March 7, just before Winfried was detained by investigators.
Leader of the investigation team Manap Djubaedi told reporters
on Tuesday that the Attorney General's Office had considered
auditing the money that Winfried claimed had never been used for
the project for the poor and that it had been with him all the
time.
Winfried's claim has raised eyebrows as to why the payment was
made on an installment basis.
"We don't know where Winfried kept the money. We will find out
where the money came from and will ask for a legal audit by the
Development and Finance Control Agency (BPKP) and Bank
Indonesia," Manap said.
Akbar, who was a minister/state secretary under former
president Habibie's government, appointed the Raudlatul Jannah
Foundation, which was led by Winfried and Dadang, to execute the
project for the poor.
Many believe that the money went to Golkar's coffers and was
used to bankroll votes for the 1999 general election.
Although the Attorney General's Office has said the returning
of the money would not alter the case against the suspects, there
is a possibility that it was part of a scenario to help Akbar
escape corruption charges.
A previous Rp 35 billion Bulog scandal case, which allegedly
involved former president Abdurrahman Wahid, was turned into a
petty criminal case after suspect Alip Agung Suwondo returned all
the money.