Bank fraud suspect avoids police questioning<\/p>\n
P.C. Naommy and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta\/Denpasar<\/p>\n
Tong Muk Keung, a suspect in a bank fraud involving the now
\ndefunct Dagang Bali (BDB) and Asiatic banks failed to appear for
\nquestioning at the National Police headquarters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
National Police Deputy Spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko D.
\nArdanto said police were carrying out a search for the suspect
\nand had put him on their wanted list.<\/p>\n
On April 18, the police issued a list of nine suspects,
\nincluding Tong, for their alleged roles in the bank fraud.<\/p>\n
The suspect's lawyer, Hotman Paris, had earlier confirmed on
\nMonday his client would appear for questioning as requested by
\nthe police. Tong was a majority share holder of Asiatic Bank.<\/p>\n
Hotman said on Wednesday his client's name should no longer be
\non the police wanted list. Tong had already submitted a power of
\nattorney letter to the police expressing his willingness to
\ncooperate with their investigation, Hotman said.<\/p>\n
Hotman said his client did not appear for questioning on
\nWednesday because police had not yet questioned BDB and Asiatic
\ndirectors.<\/p>\n
As Tong's lawyer, Hotman went to police headquarters to
\nprovide background information on the case, which included
\ninformation about other parties (outside the nine named suspects)
\nwho could have been involved in the fraud, he said.<\/p>\n
\"We also suggested the police first interrogate the company
\ndirectors before questioning share holders,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hotman said as a share holder, his client was not involved in
\nthe bank's daily decision-making.<\/p>\n
The police, he said, should focus their interrogation on the
\nsuspects from BDB. All the allegedly fraudulent transactions and
\nnonperforming loans came from BDB, not Asiatic, he said.<\/p>\n
Tong has been charged under Law No. 31\/1999 on corruption and
\nArticle 50a of the Banking Law No. 72\/1992, which carry a maximum
\nsentence of seven years in jail.<\/p>\n
Also on Wednesday, a meeting in Denpasar between
\nrepresentatives of BDB's employees and management revealed the
\nbank lacked enough funds to provide the severance payments to its
\nemployees required by law.<\/p>\n
The meeting, held at the Bali manpower office, was attended by
\nAA Sudiptha Panji for the employees and I Gusti Ngurah Oka
\nUdayana for management.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, Sudiptha asked management to set severance
\npay at five times the basic salary.<\/p>\n
To meet this demand, BDB management said they would have to
\nfind Rp 30.4 billion (US$3.6 million).<\/p>",
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