Jakarta. The National Police said Monday they will hold an internal inquiry to decide whether to launch a criminal investigation into alleged misappropriations of US aircraft maker Boeing’s funds managed by Islamic charity organization Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT).

Boeing has reportedly channeled Rp 138 billion ($9.2 million) to ACT to compensate families of the victims of Lion Air’s Max 737 fatal flight on Oct. 18, 2018.

The Boeing funds managed by ACT cover the heirs of 68 victims out of 189 people who died in the accident, National Police spokesperson Chief Comr. Nurul Azizah said at a news conference at police headquarters in Jakarta. 

"We plan to run an inquiry to see if there’s enough [evidence] to commence an investigation,” Nurul said.

She didn’t say when the inquiry will take place but added it will be conducted after the questioning of key witnesses – and possible suspects.

Police have interrogated ACT founder Ahyudin, current ACT president Ibnu Khajar, and two managers in charge of operations and financial management, Nurul said.

ACT executives came under public scrutiny earlier this month following media reports of their fantastic salaries. Ahyudin was paid Rp 250 million in monthly salary while he was the president of the ACT until January, according to Tempo magazine. The amount is 54 times the basic salary of an average worker in Jakarta.

Police will hire a team of auditors as part of the inquiry, the officer said.

The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), the country’s anti-money laundering agency, has publicly revealed indications of financial fraud for the personal gains of ACT executives and suspicious transactions involving the organization’s bank accounts.

PPATK also said that ACT managed Rp 1 trillion in public funds a year.

But Nurul implied that the upcoming inquiry will focus on ACT’s handling of Boeing funds.

The heirs of each of 68 Max 737 crash victims received around Rp 2 billion and the overall funds channeled to ACT stood at roughly Rp 68 billion, Nurul said.

On Saturday, another police spokesman said Ahyudin as ACT founder and Ibnu as the current CEO have allegedly misused Boeing’s crash-victim fund for their personal gains.

Ahyudin denied any wrongdoing after he was interrogated by the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim).

"There is no misappropriation and everything directed against Ahyudin is nothing but allegations," Teuku Pupun Zulkifli, an attorney for Ahyudin, told reporters at the National Police headquarters on Monday. 

He said the first round of questioning discussed the legality of ACT, meaning that there were no specific questions about Boeing funds.

“Let’s see what happens next because there will be more phases [of interrogation],” the lawyer said.