AGO approves case file against Adrian<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's Office has approved the case file of
\nAdrian Waworuntu, the main suspect in the Rp 1.7 trillion
\n(US$184.7 million) scam involving state bank BNI, moving
\nprosecutors closer to bringing him to justice.<\/p>\n
The office's spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said the Jakarta
\nprosecutor's office was now expecting the police to transfer the
\ncustody of Adrian and all evidence of his involvement in the case
\nto enable prosecutors to prepare the indictment.<\/p>\n
\"In our letter dated Sept. 9 to National Police Headquarters,
\nwe declared Adrian's case file was complete. It's now up to the
\npolice as to when they hand Adrian over to us,\" Kemas told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors had previously rejected Adrian's case six times
\nfor zeroing in on money laundering allegations but failing to
\nincriminate him on charges of corruption.<\/p>\n
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar once said he had
\noffered the case to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)
\nto handle.<\/p>\n
According to the law on the KPK, the antigraft body has the
\nauthority to take over cases from the police or the prosecutor's
\noffice if both institutions cease their investigations or hand
\nthe case voluntarily over to the KPK.<\/p>\n
Kemas said Adrian would be charged with corruption, money
\nlaundering and embezzlement. If found guilty, he could be
\nsentenced to life imprisonment.<\/p>\n
\"As soon as we receive Adrian and the evidence, we will
\nprepare the indictment and subsequently bring the case to court,\"
\nsaid Kemas.<\/p>\n
It usually takes the police two weeks to transfer a suspect to
\nprosecutors.<\/p>\n
Case files of several other suspects, such as the Baso
\nbrothers -- Jeffry and Judi -- are in the process of being
\ncompleted.<\/p>\n
Another suspect in the case, Maria Pauline Lumowa -- the owner
\nof the Gramarindo Group -- has fled abroad.<\/p>\n
Police have named 15 suspects in the case. Two of them --
\nKoesadiyuwono and Edi Santoso from BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch --
\nhave been convicted and received sentences of 15 years in prison
\nand life respectively. Others are now standing trial at the South
\nJakarta Court.<\/p>\n
Several businesspeople from Gramarindo and Petindo Groups were
\naccused of stealing money from the country's second largest bank
\nin 2002 to 2003 by using fake letters of credit from
\ncorrespondent banks in Congo and Kenya to withdraw money from
\nBNI's Kebayoran Baru branch. The bank managed to recover Rp 400
\nbillion of the money swindled.<\/p>\n
Aside from their failure to gather evidence to implicate the
\nmain suspects, the police and prosecutors have come under fire
\nfor failing to recover the assets of the state bank.<\/p>\n
BNI's management and lawyers have repeatedly said that only Rp
\n1 billion out of Rp 1.3 trillion of state losses had been
\nreturned to the bank, despite the police's announcement that they
\nhad confiscated assets worth over Rp 200 billion.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ago-approves-case-file-against-adrian-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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