Sutiyoso cooperates with police in fraud case

Sutiyoso cooperates with police in fraud case

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The police questioned Governor Sutiyoso on Tuesday as a witness
in the alleged embezzlement of Rp 4.2 billion in flood relief
funds by the Institute of Civic Education (ICE) on Indonesia

Sutiyoso was accorded special treatment by the police, being
questioned in the waiting room of Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen.
Makbul Patmanagara, rather than in the interrogation room in
which most witnesses find themselves.

The police had planned to question Sutiyoso at his office in
City Hall, but Sutiyoso said he preferred to be questioned at the
police headquarters.

Although the law says that being a witness in a criminal case
is an obligation not a choice, police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton
Bachrul Alam, who had said it was not necessary for Sutiyoso to
visit police headquarters, expressed gratitude for Sutiyoso's
willingness to be questioned.

"We thank God that he (Sutiyoso), as the governor, is willing
to appear at police headquarters to be questioned by our
investigators. It is an honor for us and we appreciate it," Anton
said.

Sutiyoso and the city police have a "good relationship", and
several times the police have approached the administration for
extra funds for equipment, including a global positioning system
and 86 cars.

Last week the administration approved the release of Rp 3
billion for bomb detectors.

The total budget from the city administration for the police
this year is Rp 20 billion.

The police asked the governor 41 questions on Tuesday and
Sutiyoso only needed about an hour and a half to answer them. The
questioning reportedly went smoothly and the police did not make
an issue out of Sutiyoso's decision to divert the flood-relief
funds into an education fund managed by ICE on Indonesia.

The NGO claims to have disbursed Rp 600 million of the Rp 4.2
billion raised in March during a charity night for victims of the
floods that swept through the city in January and February this
year.

The 41 questions focused on the alleged misuse of the Rp 600
million and the banking interest earned on the rest of the money.
The police have so far named the organization's treasurer,
Hendrawan, a suspect in the case.

"My assumption is that there are irregularities in the use of
the funds, which Hendrawan could not explain to the police. But
further investigation is still needed to prove this," Jakarta
Police chief Makbul said.

Makbul said Hendrawan could not explain how the Rp 600 million
was used. Hendrawan is in police detention, while ICE on
Indonesia chairwoman Irma Hutabarat has not been named a suspect
and remains free.

During questioning, Sutiyoso said the city administration had
released Rp 274 billion to help the flood victims.

But many flood victims claim to have received no aid from the
administration.