Travel ban impossed on businessmen

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office has banned four suspects in corruption cases from traveling overseas for one year, spokesman Muljohardjo said on Wednesday.

"The travel ban is aimed at facilitating the ongoing investigation into the cases," he said.

The ban slapped on director of construction company PT Marga Nurindo Bhakti Joko Ramiadji, and businessmen Kosasih and Haryono has been effective since Tuesday, the day Attorney General Baharuddin Lopa was inducted. The travel ban on businessman Hokiarto has been extended for another one year, beginning May 28.

Joko was named a suspect in the corruption that marred toll road projects in the capital. Using his close relationship with then the first family, he allegedly issued commercial papers to fund the projects after winning concession rights to operate the toll roads for 35 years. The papers failed to hit the market.

The case had been halted for two years before it was reopened on May 23.

Businessman Hokiarto served his initial one-year travel ban in 1999 after he was implicated in a 1995 land swap deal with the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

The same case brought former president Soeharto's son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra and businessman Ricardo Gelael to court, which handed them a jail sentence. Also involved was Bulog's former chief Beddu Amang, whose trial has been reopened. The South Jakarta District Court had acquitted him of all charges in 1999.

Kosasih and Haryono have been named suspects in the embezzlement of state funds for the food catering service provided by PT Angkasa Citra Sarana Catering, a subsidiary of the flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia, for the now defunct PT Sempati Air.(bby)