``Ricardo and Tommy have officially become suspects in the Bulog-Goro case,'' deputy attorney general for special criminal cases Anton Sujata was quoted as saying by Kompas daily.

Both Ricardo Gelael and Tommy, who partly owned a private wholesaler Goro Bhatara Sakti, were questioned as witnesses last month by the attorney general's office for their involvement in the Bulog-Goro case.

A controversial deal was made last year between Goro and the National Logistics Agency (Bulog), which allowed the two establishments to `swap' real estate.

The deal allowed Goro to build a retail centre on a large Bulog tract of land in an affluent residential area in North Jakarta. It however failed to keep its side of the bargain and give some 63 hectares (155 acres) of land to Bulog, which resulted in an estimated loss of 52.5 billion rupiah ($ 7 mn) to Bulog.

A travel ban has already been slapped on both men, and the former head of Bulog, Beddu Amang, is due to be questioned on Friday.

Gelael and Tommy had owned 40 percent of shares in Goro while the rest belong to cooperatives.

Following the controversial deal however, the 40 percent was sold to the cooperatives.