Desy Nurhayati and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Anti-corruption observers have criticized the Attorney General's Office for dropping investigations into two high-profile cases, saying the halts expose the incompetence of the law enforcement body in resolving such cases.
The cases involve the Clove Marketing and Buffer Stock Agency (BPPC) and an oil refinery project in Balongan. They are linked to Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra – son of the late former president Soeharto – and Regional Representatives Council Speaker Ginandjar Kartasasmita respectively.
They are only two of several cases involving powerful figures the AGO has been unable to bring to court. In late February, the AGO gave up its probe into the Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) multimillion-dollar graft cases.
The alleged graft in the BPPC and Balongan projects is believed to have caused Rp 175 billion and more than Rp 100 billion in state loses respectively.
"The AGO hasn't resolved any major graft cases to date. It always fails when it comes to either politically well-connected figures or wealthy people accused of stealing huge sums of state money," said Zainal Arifin Muchtar, executive director of Gadjah Mada University's Center for Anti-corruption Studies in Yogyakarta.
Emerson Yuntho of Indonesia Corruption Watch criticized the AGO as being too hasty in its decision over the BPPC case, and too weak and too slow in handling the Balongan case.
"The AGO needs public input before halting the BPPC case, because the state lost a lot of money. And we know the AGO was stalling for time when dealing with the Balongan case, waiting until the case expired," he said.
Emerson said the halt of the BPPC case had diminished the state's chances of recovering money deposited by Tommy at BNP Paribas bank.
However, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji defended his office's decision, saying there were other cases that could be mounted against Tommy in a move to seize his assets, valued at 36 million euros and stored at the BNP's Guernsey branch.
To seize the money, the AGO must first prove the money was the result of corruption.
Hendarman said he had approved the halt of the investigation into the case after studying the evidence. "I have read all the reports and evidence, and that is why I agreed to halt the investigation. There are no state losses in this case. (The payment of the BPPC's debt to the state) has been completed," he said.
The AGO issued a letter declaring it would officially cease investigating the BPPC case, citing no state losses had been incurred.
The BPPC, headed by Tommy, was established in 1992 through a presidential decree issued by Soeharto. The agency received a Rp 759 billion loan from the government, to be channeled to clove farmers. The money was allegedly embezzled by BPPC officials through several companies belonging to Soeharto cronies.
Tommy was once declared suspect in the case. During the investigation last year, he denied any wrongdoing and said the agency had repaid all its debts and had secured a letter from the central bank to that effect.
With the BPPC case dropped, the government now has only two graft cases – Vista Bella and the Supersemar fund – in which to target Tommy.
In the Balongan case, Hendarman said the assistant attorney general for special crimes had declared the case had exceeded the statute of limitations and was thus out of date.