Jakarta – Once powerful Indonesian business tycoon Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, who was former President Suharto's confidante and cabinet minister, was formally charged with corruption Thursday, Jakarta's Provincial Prosecution Office said.

Prosecutor Andi Syafruddin, head of the office's corruption department, told reporters the Attorney General's Office – which began investigating the case more than four months ago – handed over dossiers on Hasan to the prosecution office Thursday.

"We will review the dossiers within five days before filing an indictment against him in court," Andi said. He said Hasan was facing life imprisonment, as is his former crony Suharto, who is also to face a corruption trial soon.

Hasan is accused of causing the state to lose more than $75 million from Forestry Ministry coffers and more than $168 million from the Indonesian Association of Timber Companies, a public business association. According to Andi, investigating attorneys have found solid proof of corruption in business deals with the ministry on forest mapping.

Hasan was a trade and industry minister in Suharto's last cabinet, which dissolved shortly before Suharto resigned in May 1998.