Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Paralleling an investigation by the Attorney General's Office, the National Police are assuming a proactive role in tracking down the assets of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra believed to have been derived from money laundering.
Deputy chief of National Police Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara said Tuesday the police were investigating the assets of the youngest son of former president Soeharto, which are being held in several companies, including his overseas-based Motorbike Corp.
"The police will continue hunting for Tommy's illegal assets, including the 36 million euros he allegedly laundered by depositing the funds in the Bank Nationale de Paris Paribas in London," Makbul told a Regional Representatives Council (DPD) hearing here.
"We are investigating where he obtained the money from. We are also still looking for supporting evidence from a number of companies in which the money had allegedly been invested," he said.
While the National Police have just recently initiated their investigation, the AGO has been intensively investigating the matter under the leadership of the then-attorney general Abdul Rahman Saleh. The office said recently it was also investigating alleged corruption in connection with Tommy's role in the liquidated Clove Marketing and Buffer Agency (BPPC) and the now-dissolved PT Timor Putra National.
Tommy, 44, got an early release from prison in October 2006 after serving only one third of a 15-year jail term for ordering the July 2001 murder of a Supreme Court justice.
Former state secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra and former minister of justice and human rights affairs Hamid Awaluddin were recently sacked from the cabinet partly because of their alleged role in helping Tommy withdraw the money from the French bank.
Makbul called on the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) to speed up its investigation into Tommy's assets and hand over its findings to the police so they could follow them up in accordance with the law.
He also called on the DPD and the House of Representatives to clarify the roles of PPATK and the police in their deliberation of the bill on money laundering in order to avoid overlapping investigations into money laundering cases.
"To us, PPATK has the authority to carry out preliminary investigations into money laundering cases, while the official investigations into such cases should be left for law enforcers, including the police and the Attorney General's Office," he said.