Wahid questioned in Suharto fraud case

Wahid admitted to the meetings with Tommy

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesian police have questioned former President Abdurrahman Wahid in relation to a fraud case filed by the son of ex-President Suharto.

Hutomo 'Tommy' Mandala Putra who eluded the law for about a year after he was convicted of corruption last year, claimed he had been extorted 20 billion rupiah ($2 million).

He said he was promised Wahid's presidential pardon if he gave the president the money.

After the allegations, police named two suspects in the investigation, Dodi Sumadi, who is still at large and believed to have acted as middleman between Wahid and Tommy, and a Muslim ulemma Abdullah Siddik Muin.

The case centers on two meetings last year between Tommy, who was seeking a presidential pardon, and Wahid.

Earlier this week, police also questioned Wahid's wife and former first lady Sinta Nuriyah, whose charity foundation allegedly had received the money, and their eldest daughter Alissa Qotrunada, who accompanied Wahid in the meeting. Both were quizzed as witnesses.

Wahid and his family admitted about the meetings with Tommy last year, which took place in two posh hotels. However, they denied having struck a deal or receiving any money.

Denials

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While she attended the police questioning on Tuesday, Sinta Nuriah filed a complaint against Jakarta ex-police chief Sofjan Jacoeb and Tommy's lawyer Elza Syarief, accusing them of slander.

Talking to reporters after being grilled at the police headquarters, Wahid admitted that somebody approached him regarding Tommy's corruption case, but he had refused to interfere.

"I don't know Dodi," the Muslim cleric said.

"As for Kyai Siddik, I know him but usually not in these sort of things.

According to Zannuba Arifah, one of Wahid's daughters, the ex-president does not know Siddik very well. She said he was only familiar with Siddik because he was an ulemma from Nahdlatul Ulama, a Muslim organization that Wahid used to chair.

"The strange thing is, why didn't the police take Tommy as a suspect for a bribery case? Didn't he try to bribe?" Zannuba told CNN.

"I think this is just an attempt to divert attention from the real case."

Tommy arrest

Wahid was the country's first democratically elected president, attaining the leadership in October 1999.

In July last year, Indonesia's supreme legislature sacked him over his erratic leadership and alleged involvement in two financial scandals, an accusation that he adamantly denied.

After the Supreme Court last year upheld the graft conviction and the imprisonment sentence, Tommy disappeared and was on the run for around 12 months.

The country's highest court finally exonerated Tommy from all charges last October but he was arrested again in November.

When Suharto ruled Indonesia for over three decades until May 1998, his children, including Tommy, received numerous business favors.

The favorite son of Suharto has been questioned by the police on various charges -- including the murder of a Supreme Court judge, illegal possession of firearms, and a spate of bombings in the capital Jakarta.

On Monday, police officials said they would submit the dossier of their investigation on Tommy's links in the judge's murder to state prosecutors.