Indon seeks clarification on Tjandra’s status

INDONESIA is seeking clarification from Papua New Guinea on the status regarding the citizenship of tycoon  Joko Soegiarto Tjandra.
Indonesia’s deputy attorney-general Agung Darmono told the Jarkata Post on Tuesday that a team would be sent to Port Moresby to clarify reports that “fraud fugitive” Tjandra had been granted PNG citizenship.
“We are aware of the reports, and we need them (Papua New Guinea) to confirm if the
information is true,” Darmono said.
Tjandra was granted citizenship recently by Immigration Minister Ano Pala who said the businessman had
satisfied all the required conditions.
But the decision was later withheld by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill who said the case needed more investigation.
Darmono said they had never received official information from Papua New Guinea on the issue.
“We have sent official letters concerning Joko’s alleged whereabouts in the country.
“But we have not received any response,” Darmono said.
Joko reportedly flew to Port Moresby on a chartered flight from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta on June 10, the day before the Supreme Court issued a decision on the AGO’s case review, convicting and sentencing Joko to two years imprisonment and ordering the businessman to pay Rp 546 billion (US$58.42 million) in restitution to the state.
The businessman is known to have controlling shares in a number of plantation companies in Papua New Guinea.