Suharto, dressed in a batik shirt, arrived in a four-wheel drive vehicle and went straight into the building housing the office of attorney-general Muhammad Ghalib where he stayed for about 45 minutes.

He smiled and waved to the mob of reporters as he left with four bodyguards, but made no comment.

There was no immediate comment from the attorney-general's office.

Attorney-general Ghalib is heading one of two teams set up by the government to investigate Suharto's wealth.

The probe comes as public pressure builds on the government to look into rampant graft during the Suharto era, during which the former leader's family and close associates build up huge business empires.

Some analysts have estimated his family's total wealth at up to $40 billion, almost the same as an international package tobail out the stricken economy.

Earlier this month Suharto denied having any money in overseas accounts.

A survey this week by the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International ranked Indonesia as one of the world's most corrupt countries.

There is widespread scepticism that the probes will lead to much, in part because of the technical difficulties in tracing any money.

There is also doubt that the government has the political will to dig too deeply as a number of members of the existing leadership -- many of whom served under Suharto -- would be implicated, analysts said.

``If president BJ Habibie is really brave in exposing Suharto's wealth, that would also mean exposing the wealth of current cabinet ministers as well as himself,'' Teten Masduki of Independent Corruption Watch said.

Suharto was forced to step down in May amid growing social and economic chaos which has plunged millions of Indonesians back into abject poverty.

Economists warn that the economic downturn, the worst in threedecades, is likely to worsen over the next few months.