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Lease Deal Means More Legal Woes for Merpati
Rangga Prakoso | July 10, 2011

A Merpati aircraft loading at Soekarno Hatta airport in Jakarta, in this file photo. (JG Photo) A Merpati aircraft loading at Soekarno Hatta airport in Jakarta, in this file photo. (JG Photo)
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maspanji
10:39am Jul 10, 2011

Merpati is the personal cash cow for its officials and government patrons and should be liquidated to stop further bleeding of government treasury.

Mike.Jkt
8:39am Jul 10, 2011

Why is it so damn important for Indonesia to have a "state-run" airline? Merpati has been sucking hind-tit since its inception...sell it or let it die

Mike.Jkt
8:38am Jul 10, 2011

Why is it so damn important for Indonesia to have a "state-run" airline? Merpati has been sucking hind-tit since its inception...sell it or let it die

Darwinista
8:31am Jul 10, 2011

Merpati, leasing planes for 1 million and no planes? In a normal world the company should have been bankrupt long time ago, but even the corruptors know that the government will not do that, so they (corruptors) keep on milking

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The Attorney General’s Office is looking at whether there was any corruption behind state-run Merpati Nusantara Airlines’ $1 million deal to lease two planes that never materialized, officials said on Friday.

In 2006, the company forged an agreement with US-based Thirdstone Aircraft Leasing Group to lease a Boeing 737-400 and a Boeing 737-500 and shelled out $1 million, but it received neither the planes nor a refund.

“The investigation focuses on the lease because the state loss is obvious, $1 million,” said Jasman Pandjaitan, the director of investigations for special crimes at the AGO.

Imam Turidi, a spokesman for Merpati, said the company had filed a lawsuit against Thirdstone in April 2007 for breach of contract. The US District Court in the District of Columbia issued a verdict ordering Thirdstone to return the $1 million, but the payment never came, Imam said.

When asked if Merpati had been negligent in its dealings with the company, Imam said: “It is not Merpati’s place to accuse people of negligence. The case has been investigated by the Supreme Audit Agency [BPK], the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK] and the prosecutors’ office.

“We are just going to follow the legal proceedings because we are the object of an investigation.”

Deputy Attorney General Darmono said it was too early to conclude there was corruption in the lease agreement.

“State losses are not the only factor in a graft case,” he said. “The investigation has not concluded anything. We are still summoning people for questioning.”

In addition to the lease dispute, Merpati is also being investigated by the AGO over its purchase of 15 Chinese-made MA-60 planes, one of which crashed in Papua this year, killing 25 people.

Under a 2006 contract between Merpati and Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation, each aircraft was priced at $14.1 million. It was later discovered that airlines in the Philippines, Ghana and Nepal had bought the same type of aircraft for only $11 million each.

Merpati took delivery of the first two planes in mid-2007, but after finding cracks in an important component and facing worsening financial difficulties, it considered canceling the purchase.

In addition to the high price and mechanical flaws, the deal was also dogged by concerns that the MA-60s were not certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration, whose guidelines, though not mandatory in Indonesia, are considered the de facto standard for airlines.