Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Tue, February 7, 2012
Archive Search

Flight to Shanghai on Tycoon’s Jet Lands Minister in KPK’s Sights
Nivell Rayda | August 28, 2010

Mustafa Abubakar, left, watching Pertamina chief Karen Agustiawan and KPK officials Eko Soesanto Tjiptadi and Haryono Umar at the signing of an initiative to fight graft at state companies. (Antara Photo) Mustafa Abubakar, left, watching Pertamina chief Karen Agustiawan and KPK officials Eko Soesanto Tjiptadi and Haryono Umar at the signing of an initiative to fight graft at state companies. (Antara Photo)
Share This Page
3
5
0
1
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

BilboBaggins
12:39pm Aug 28, 2010

No problem here, after all he "couldn't say no."

ha ha

  • Previous
  • 1
  • Next

Jakarta. The Corruption Eradication Commission is looking into whether State Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar broke the law when he flew to China on an official visit with his wife aboard a tycoon’s jet.

“That can be considered as an illegal gratuity and we have told him that,” Haryono Umar, the deputy chairman of the commission, also known as the KPK, told the Jakarta Globe

Mustafa had told the KPK about the trip on Thursday but had not yet given the details in writing, Haryono said, adding that the KPK had given the minister forms to complete.

“He has to inform us what the giver’s exact intentions were. Was it connected to his tasks as a minister? If we see that there is a conflict of interest, the gratuity must be returned one way or the other.”

Haryono did not say what punishment Mustafa could face if found to have accepted an illegal gratuity.

The minister could not immediately be reached for confirmation. But the Tempo Interactive news portal quoted him as confirming he had flown on a private jet to China with his wife on Aug. 21 for a three-day visit.

“Yes, I went to Shanghai and Xian. Actually, I had planned to fly with Garuda at 11:45 a.m. but Pak Ibrahim Risjad offered me a ride on his jet so I went with him,” Mustafa told Tempo Interactive.

He said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had given him permission to do so.

“My wife came with me because Pak Ibrahim asked her to,” he said. “He was my senior while I was in Aceh. We have a cultural relationship. I couldn’t say no.”

Mustafa, formerly an agricultural consultant and once acting governor of Aceh, argued that far from being improper, his flight arrangement had saved the state money.

Ibrahim, 76, is the owner of the Risjadson Group, which has interests in agriculture and plantations, including in Aceh.

According to the Globe Asia magazine’s 2010 rich list, the tycoon, worth $326 million, is Indonesia’s 48th richest person. He controls 48,000 hectares of palm oil plantations in North Sumatra and Aceh.

Mustafa said he would provide details of the trip to the KPK.