Two more held in Beng Seng case

Two more held in Beng Seng case

JAKARTA (JP): Two other suspects in last year's killing of
entertainment businessman Darmansyah Sujadi, alias Nyo Beng Seng,
were arrested by city police last Friday.

The two, identified as Apiu and Eng San, were caught last
Friday in Jakarta, a reliable source told The Jakarta Post
yesterday.

Two people, Agiono and Sudartono, have already been sentenced
to 20 years and 15 years, respectively, for stabbing Beng Seng to
death.

City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna confirmed the
arrest of Apiu and Eng San in a phone conversation yesterday, but
refused to give further details.

"We are still interrogating the two to find out their roles
and motives in the homicide," Iman said.

The secretary of the City Police Crime Investigation
Directorate, Lt. Col. Edi Darnadi, said yesterday that Apiu and
Eng San are now being questioned about their roles in the murder
of 57-year-old Beng Seng, a godfather in the gambling business,
both here and overseas.

Other people questioned by the police include Beng Seng's
lawyer Leo Kartono and the victim's second wife, Tuti Sulastri.

National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro has ordered
the arrests of seven people in connection with the murder.

The other suspects, as mentioned in the trials of Agiono and
Sudartono, include Apiu, Eng San, Hong Lie, A Lay and Avok,
Banurusman said.

From his "headquarters" in Singapore, Hong Lie challenged the
police by saying he would testify when the police begin to
question lawyer Leo Kartono, whom Hong Lie has accused of
instigating the murder plot.

The North Jakarta District Court sentenced Agiono and
Sudartono in August to 20 years and 15 years imprisonment for
murdering Beng Seng in front of Tuti's mansion in Pluit on April
15, 1994.

According to the prosecution at the trial of Agiono and
Sudartono, the murder was carried out upon the instructions of
Beng Seng's business competitor Hong Lie, following an argument
between them over Hong Lie's debt of US$3.2 million to Beng Seng.

Beng Seng owned a number of nightclubs, massage parlors and
other business firms, including the PT Irama Tara recording
company.

He was also a renowned gambler and a contact person for
Indonesians who wanted to gamble at exclusive gambling venues in
Macao, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Malaysia and Australia. (bsr)