Wismoyo denies claims unveiled in PwC report

Wismoyo denies claims unveiled in PwC report

JAKARTA (JP): National Sports Council (KONI) chairman Wismoyo
Arismunandar denied on Friday evening claims made in the
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report that he received Rp 29.2
billion (US$4.3 million) from Bank Bali through PT Glora Raya
Dianaabadi.

"That's not true. It's slanderous and I will tell the truth
through my lawyer," he said after installing new Indonesian
Pencak Silat Association (IPSI) officials at the Pencak Silat
Center in East Jakarta.

Details revealed in the full PwC report said PT Glora Raya
Dianaabadi was jointly owned by former president Soeharto's
daughter Titiek Prabowo and Wismoyo, who is Soeharto's
brother-in-law.

The report said Rp 25.437 billion was deposited on June 13
from BNI Rasuna Said into the company's Lippo Bank account number
738.30.08409.3.

The company received on Aug. 18 Rp 3.8 billion from Arung
Jerre's account in the Lippo Bank.

Wismoyo said the "wrong information" could damage the image of
sport in the country and that he had the obligation to say the
truth.

IPSI vice chairman Oyong Karmayuda said there was no basis to
the allegations, but that they needed to be clarified.

"The sports society will take action if the information is
untrue and vice versa. KONI needs to stage a plenary meeting to
decide what to do if the information is true," Oyong said.

Indonesian Hockey Association (PHSI) patron Rajkumar Singh
said he learned of Wismoyo's alleged involvement in the scandal
from a newspaper.

"If it really happened, it will create a bad image for sports
and KONI needs to clarify the matter as soon as possible to avoid
(an adverse) impact on sports development," he said.

Earlier in the day, KONI vice chairman Arie Sudewo, KONI
secretary-general Rudolf S. Warouw, and KONI's official in charge
of planning and budget matters, Togi Hutagaol, said the office of
the state minister of investment/state owned enterprises would
send its auditor team to check KONI's budget due to the Rp 3.5
billion in financial help received from the office.

"KONI has agreed to be audited by the office team, even though
we have our own auditors," Warouw said.

He also said the office had suspected on KONI's audit result
and had canceled the disbursement of the remainder of the Rp 7
billion fund. The fund was used to finance sending the Indonesian
contingent to the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei
Darussalam in August. It was also used for insurance needs and
for cash bonuses to the Games medalists.

At the Friday evening installation ceremony, Wismoyo expressed
his pride in pencak silat's success in becoming an international
martial art.

Wismoyo installed IPSI chairman Eddie M Nalapraya, vice
chairmen Rosano Barack, Suhana Budjana, Oyong Karmayuda and
Rustadi Effendi as executive director. Agus Marsono was installed
as secretary and Rachmat Gobel as treasurer.

Wismoyo said pencak silat was a traditional martial art form
in the country and needed to be maintained in order to ensure its
existence into the third millennium.

"Sports officials have an obligation to improve pencak silat
athletes' achievements and prove to the world that Indonesia is
able to achieve world-class performances," he told Antara. (yan)