Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 07/23/2008 10:52 AM | National
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has found corruption is rife in the state postal company PT Pos Indonesia, even though the company has been made to struggle to survive.
Deputy attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said Tuesday that after uncovering alleged graft involving the company's senior executives in Jakarta, the state prosecutors were now looking into the alleged misuse of state money, implicating PT Pos executives for investment in South Kalimantan, Lampung, South Sulawesi and the West Sumatra town of Ombilin.
"A new suspect will be announced next week," Marwan said after a ceremony to mark the AGO's 48th anniversary.
He said PT Pos money had been invested in a coal mining business in South Kalimantan, causing about Rp 40 billion in state losses.
Marwan added the prosecutors had detected the modus operandi in Lampung, South Sulawesi and Ombilin.
"This is clearly a violation, as the state company is supposed to only serve the public with delivery services," Marwan said.
The AGO is handling the graft cases involving the state company under a special program called "speedy investigation", which requires prosecutors to complete their investigations in two months.
The AGO has declared head of the PT Pos Jakarta office Hana Suryana and six branch managers across Jakarta suspects in connection with the alleged misuse of the company's operational and non-budgetary funds, which is believed to have amounted to about Rp 15 billion in state losses.
The other suspects are former Central Jakarta post office heads Herbon Otnata and Her Chaeruddin; Mampang, South Jakarta, post office head Rudi Atas Perbatas; former West Jakarta post office head Ernaldi; South Jakarta office head Yoseph Taufiq Hidayat; and Pondok Gede, East Jakarta, office head Mun Taufiq.
Marwan said another suspect, identified as Bagja, remained at large.
"We were informed that the person was planning to run away to Switzerland, but to no avail," Marwan said.
The graft case evolved around a circular issued by PT Pos operational director dated June 20, 2003, which allowed a commission of between 3 and 5 percent for customers sending large packages.
According to the prosecutors, Hana, however, inflated the commission to between 5 and 6 percent, with the margin going into his and other officials' pockets.
State Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil said the government supported the legal measures taken against corruption in the postal company.
But he said it was not urgent that he dismiss Hana and other PT Pos officials as he had already named acting officials.
"We should uphold the presumption of innocence. Just let the law enforcers do their jobs. The point is we would like to create better state-owned enterprises," he said at the State Palace.
The AGO is investigating alleged corruption in the sales of two giant tankers by state oil and gas company Pertamina and will start a probe into alleged graft involving state bank BNI and state pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma.
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has found corruption is rife in the state postal company PT Pos Indonesia, even though the company has been made to struggle to survive.
Deputy attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said Tuesday that after uncovering alleged graft involving the company's senior executives in Jakarta, the state prosecutors were now looking into the alleged misuse of state money, implicating PT Pos executives for investment in South Kalimantan, Lampung, South Sulawesi and the West Sumatra town of Ombilin.
"A new suspect will be announced next week," Marwan said after a ceremony to mark the AGO's 48th anniversary.
He said PT Pos money had been invested in a coal mining business in South Kalimantan, causing about Rp 40 billion in state losses.
Marwan added the prosecutors had detected the modus operandi in Lampung, South Sulawesi and Ombilin.
"This is clearly a violation, as the state company is supposed to only serve the public with delivery services," Marwan said.
The AGO is handling the graft cases involving the state company under a special program called "speedy investigation", which requires prosecutors to complete their investigations in two months.
The AGO has declared head of the PT Pos Jakarta office Hana Suryana and six branch managers across Jakarta suspects in connection with the alleged misuse of the company's operational and non-budgetary funds, which is believed to have amounted to about Rp 15 billion in state losses.
The other suspects are former Central Jakarta post office heads Herbon Otnata and Her Chaeruddin; Mampang, South Jakarta, post office head Rudi Atas Perbatas; former West Jakarta post office head Ernaldi; South Jakarta office head Yoseph Taufiq Hidayat; and Pondok Gede, East Jakarta, office head Mun Taufiq.
Marwan said another suspect, identified as Bagja, remained at large.
"We were informed that the person was planning to run away to Switzerland, but to no avail," Marwan said.
The graft case evolved around a circular issued by PT Pos operational director dated June 20, 2003, which allowed a commission of between 3 and 5 percent for customers sending large packages.
According to the prosecutors, Hana, however, inflated the commission to between 5 and 6 percent, with the margin going into his and other officials' pockets.
State Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil said the government supported the legal measures taken against corruption in the postal company.
But he said it was not urgent that he dismiss Hana and other PT Pos officials as he had already named acting officials.
"We should uphold the presumption of innocence. Just let the law enforcers do their jobs. The point is we would like to create better state-owned enterprises," he said at the State Palace.
The AGO is investigating alleged corruption in the sales of two giant tankers by state oil and gas company Pertamina and will start a probe into alleged graft involving state bank BNI and state pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma.
