AGO to question Yusril next Tuesday about website graft case

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 11/12/2008 3:56 PM | National

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) plans to question former Justice and Human Rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra about an embezzlement case that cost his former office Rp 400 billion.

"God willing, Yusril will be questioned next Tuesday," Marwan Effendy, the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, told reporters Wednesday.

The AGO has been investigating embezzled access fees from a ministry administrative website, which has been operated by the ministry's Directorate General for Legal Administration since 2001.

The AGO investigator has detained Syamsuddin Manan Sinaga, current chief of that directorate general, and his predecessors Zulkarnain Yunus and Romli Atmasasmita, who is also a anti-corruption expert.

The alleged graft centers on the internal distribution of funds embezzled from a legal administration website run by the ministry's directorate general of legal administration, provided by PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD).

The website, www.sisminbakum.com, had since 2001 allowed legal entities to register for permits and nominate notaries. The services on offer ranged in price from Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million.

The directorate general received 200 applications daily from notaries throughout the country, generating monthly revenue of Rp 5 billion to Rp 9 billion, AGO data shows.

Prosecutors allege SRD received 90 percent of the monthly revenue, with the rest going to ministry officials and distributed by seniority. Secretaries-general, the AGO says, received Rp 5 million per month and directors general Rp 10 million. (dre)

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