Public auditors have asked the government to launch an investigation into the 2004 transfer of US$10 million belonging to Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, describing it as a "blatant abuse of government power".
Leonardus Nugroho and Surahmin said Monday that State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin had abused their authority when they allowed the transfer of the money from the London branch of Bank Nationale de Paris (BNP) Paribas into an account of the Justice and Human Rights Ministry's Directorate General of General Legal Administration.
"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyoho could ask the Development Finance Controller, as the government's internal auditor, and also the State Ministry for Administrative Reforms, to investigate whether there were abuses of power in the transfer," Leonardus Nugroho, a certified fraud examiner, told reporters at the Indonesian Corruption Watch office in Jakarta on Monday.
He said the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the Attorney General's Office could also launch an investigation into the case without waiting for a request from the President.
"The BPK could launch an audit of their performance or a special audit as stipulated in Article 4 of Law No.15/2004 on state fund audits, and if it found any indications of a criminal act, the BPK could recommended law enforcement institutions pursue the case," said Leonard.
The Attorney General's Office, said Leonard, could investigate the origin of the funds and whether the use of the government's account was against the law.
Leonard also said that the public could provide more evidence in the case, such as by comparing accounting indicators and other sources of information, and to determine whether the transfer was a case of procedural weakness or an intentional deviation from the law.
He said any auditor wanting to deal with the case would have to have a concrete base in regulations, such as the 2004 presidential instruction on the acceleration of graft eradication, the national action plan on graft eradication and the UN Convention Against Corruption, which has been ratified by the country.
In a similar tone, Surahmin from the BPK said that there was no indication that the case had involved fraud as the money was not state money, although there were clear indications of abuse of power.
"There was no concrete reduction in state money or assets in this case. This money is not the state's money or money controlled by the state, therefore we can't say that the transfer has caused a loss to the state," said Surahmin.
"In fact it is so simple, if the President or the audit bodies want to stick to the law, they could launch a special audit of the account at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry. If the government did this, it would be clear who was responsible for the abuse of power, because a director general cannot directly manage state funds or the opening of an account, which should be based on the decision of a minister," Surahmin added.