Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Vice President Hamzah Haz and some other senior state officials are morally responsible for the agribusiness scam involving PT Qurnia Subur Alam Raya (QSAR), lawyer Juniver Girsang said here on Monday.

"Visits to the company's operation [in Sukabumi, West Java province] by senior state officials were instrumental in promoting QSAR and encouraging people to become investors in the enterprise," Juniver Girsang told Antara.

Girsang, a lawyer with the Gusti Randa and associates firm, is part of a team that includes Gusti Randa, Coki Sinambela, Pilipus Tarigan and Erri Tjakradirana, which is representing 41 PT QSAR investors outside the Investors Communication Forum (FKI). The 41 investors are demanding that their 4.1 billion rupiah (US$456,000) be returned.

In addition to President Megawati and Vice President Hamzah, Girsang also named People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais and Nina Akbar Tandjung, wife of the DPR speaker, as public figures who are also morally responsible.

"As such, the government should do its utmost to help solve the scam by QSAR president director Ramli Araby and the board of directors, who are now detained by the police in Sukabumi," the lawyer said.

Asked about Vice President Hamzah Haz's suggestion that the government might take over QSAR, Girsang said that he was waiting for concrete steps to be taken.

Girsang argued that the dignitaries' visits to the agribusiness operation had given the public the impression that PT QSAR was a viable venture, thus luring many more investors. "In reality, the company's board of directors was involved in deceit and embezzlement," he said.

The team of lawyers also urged the police to carry out a transparent investigation and to intensively question the suspects, as well as to keep the investors informed about the progress of the investigation.