JAKARTA, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The son of former Indonesian president Suharto did not show up for questioning on Tuesday over a 175 billion rupiah ($18.8 million) graft case, citing poor health, an official at the attorney general's office said.

Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, youngest son of the former autocratic leader, was recently named a suspect in the case related to alleged misuse of state funds given to a lucrative clove monopoly agency he chaired in the 1990s.

Muhammad Salim, director for investigation of special criminal cases, said Tommy's lawyer had sent a note saying his client required bed rest for at least a week and could not attend the attorney general's office.

"It said he can't come today because he is sick, but didn't name the illness," Salim told reporters.

Tommy's lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.

Salim said the attorney general's office planned to summon Tommy for further questioning before the end of next week.

Last month, prosecutors filed a civil suit against Suharto senior seeking to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds allegedly misused by one of the former president's charitable foundations.

The former president, who resigned in 1998 amid civil unrest, was himself charged with graft but escaped prosecution after he was deemed too ill to stand trial. Both he and his family members deny any wrongdoing.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono came to power in 2004 promising to tackle endemic graft, and officials ranging from a former religious affairs minister to the governor of Aceh province have been jailed on corruption charges.

But the anti-graft drive is being closely watched after critics say it has failed to take on some powerful vested interests.

Cases against the Suharto family have often failed to make ground, prompting accusations that Indonesia's legal system can be bent in favour of the rich and powerful.

Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission defended progress fighting graft.

"Former ministers and active governors have been jailed. This is unprecedented in Indonesia's history and would be unthinkable in the past," Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, a commission deputy chairman, told reporters after a seminar on corruption.

Tommy, 44, was conditionally released from jail last October, after serving a third of his original sentence for plotting the murder of a Supreme Court judge who had convicted him in another graft case.

Like other Suharto children, Tommy became a super-rich business mogul during his father's three-decade rule. Some of his projects have been linked to political influence and corruption, including the clove monopoly and a failed national car project.

(Additional reporting by Ahmad Pathoni)

REUTERS