Jakarta – A government investigation shows that funds in charitable foundations linked to ousted Indonesian president Suharto were misused and diverted to private firms, a senior minister said Tuesday.
Development Supervision Minister Hartarto Sastrosunarto said the probe launched two months ago by the Attorney General's office and a professional audit team showed signs of abuses of funds in the five largest foundations. "Based on investigation ... there were indications that the use of the foundations' funds was not according to the foundations' charter," Hartarto said, reading from a statement at the Bina Graha presidential office.
Attorney General Muhammad Andi Ghalib said that much of the funds were diverted by improper lending to private firms. "A lot (of the funds) was loaned for the purposes of individual firms. Many used it," Ghalib told reporters.
But Hartato said the government considered, based on the charters of the five foundations, that the funds could not be considered the private property of Suharto. Since the ageing ex-president stepped down on May 21, he has faced and denied allegations that he amassed a fortune during his 32 years in office. Forbes magazine in June listed the Suharto family as worth four billion dollars.
Hartato named the five foundations as the Supersemar, Amal Bhakti Muslim Pancasila, Dharmais, Dakab and Dhana Sejahtera Mandiri, all of which are incorporated as charities and to which civil servants have been forced to donate.
When asked who were among the illegal receivers of the foundation funds, Ghalib gave only the initials "BH" without elaborating. Asked whether BH refered to Muhammad "Bob" Hasan, Suharto's golfing-buddy and one time minister, Ghalib did not reply.
Ghalib also did not answer directly on what action would be taken to follow up on the findings, but said "in a short period the audit's result will be announced." The financial and legal audit on the five foundations were still incomplete, Hartarto said.
Suharto's successor as president, his former vice-president B.J. Habibie, told journalists last month that he believed Suharto was a poor man, but that his cronies were rich. Habibie also conceded that Suharto's children, who have shares in hundreds of businesses ranging from oil and real estate to toll roads, were rich.