Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Attorney General`s Office has named seven suspects in an alleged graft case in an environmental project at PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia that has resulted in US$270 million in losses to the state.

"Five of the seven suspects are from the company and two are from other companies," Andhi Nirwanto, Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes, said here on Friday.

The case surrounds the misappropriation of the budget for bio-remediation, an activity designed to restore soil affected by waste discharged by oil-drilling activities.

Nirwanto noted that the US$270 million project had lasted from 2003 to 2011. "After conducting an investigation, we found indications of corruption," he said.

In carrying out the bio-remediation activity, two companies, PT Green Planet Indonesia and PT Sumigita Jaya, acted as third parties. However, the two companies did not meet technical classifications nor hold certificates from an authorized agency as a company engaged in waste management, the Attorney General`s Office said on its official website. The website noted that the two companies were general contractors and that the project was fictitious.

Nirwanto added that on Thursday (March 15), a team of investigators from the Attorney General`s Office questioned two of the three witnesses summoned to testify in the alleged graft case.

The two witnesses are Sampe L. Purba, chief of the advisory division at the Upstream Oil and Gas Executive Body (BP Migas), and Medi Apriadi, chief of the agency`s consolidation and reporting section.
(Uu.KR-BSR/S012/INE/S012)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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