Attorney General's Office Will 'Brush' Those Who Protect Benny Tjokro

JAKARTA - Head of the Attorney General's Office, ST Burhanuddin, stated that he would "eliminate" the parties protecting suspects in the alleged corruption case of PT Asabri Benny Tjokrosaputra and Heru Hidayat and other suspects.

He ensured that his staff would be upright in carrying out the laws and regulations in investigating the alleged corruption mega case.

"Nobody, anyone, there is strong, there is no strong person, who 'backup' Benny Tjokro, we will brush. God willing, I will carry out the laws and regulations, nothing, strong or not strong, we are safe. The task has been good so far. God willing, there will be no problems, ”said Burhanuddin in an interview reported by Antara, Saturday.

Burhanuddin also confirmed that the number of suspects in the Asabri case will continue to grow. The AGO targets those who hide the assets of the perpetrators at home and abroad.

"God willing, it will increase, I can assure you that, it will not stop there. Especially those who try to hide the assets of the perpetrators, I want to target anywhere, I will brush, let alone anyone, "he said.

Burhanuddin explained that Benny Tjokro and Heru Hidayat were the masterminds and main perpetrators in Asabri's alleged corruption case. Likewise, their existence when they were suspects in the PT Asuransi Jiwasraya corruption case.

According to him, the mode of the two of them in extracting state funds is not much different. Both of them are known as strongmen as stock players.

Because of this, Burhanuddin admitted that he received appreciation from stock players for daring to arrest both of them in a corruption case.

He said that after the arrest and determination of the two of them as suspects, the condition of the shares had become more normal and public confidence in stocks was getting higher.

“All the stock players know them, no one doesn't know, they are already the champion. As soon as we take action on both of them, they are shocked, great, how dare. That's the first thing I got from stock players, "he said.

Burhanuddin emphasized that investigating the Asabri case does not only focus on punishment, but also prioritizes efforts to recover assets.

His party has mapped the whereabouts of these assets and coordinated with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) to carry out tracing of these assets.

Burhanuddin also said that in the investigation into Asabri's alleged corruption case, his party received support from the Ministry of Defense and the TNI. Both institutions support that all perpetrators are exposed and assets are returned successfully.

"After all there is money from soldiers, we can support the Ministry and the Commander in Chief (TNI) to resolve this case," he said.

On that occasion, Burhanuddin also asked the public to be patient and support the investigation so that all perpetrators could be arrested and assets could be returned.

He said that the AGO was currently investigating several mega corruption cases which were very large and even exceeded the BLBI corruption case, such as the alleged corruption of Asabri worth IDR 23.7 trillion and Jiwasraya worth IDR 16.8 trillion.

Reflecting on the corruption case, Burhanuddin hopes that financial services supervisory institutions such as the Financial Services Authority (OJK) will be more careful and intensely supervise.

"Because the regulations and rules are clear, it may just require increased supervision," he said.