BPK leader to help clarify alleged govt funds misuse<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Head of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) Satrio "Billy" Budihardjo
\nJoedono confirmed that there were indeed transactions in the
\nalleged misuse of government funds (deposited in Account No. 502
\nat the central bank) that might constitute a criminal violation,
\nbut he declined to reveal which ones.<\/p>\n
"What's true is that there are two kinds of transactions here
\n-- transactions that are in violation of procedure and those that
\nmay have violated the law -- but we're still analyzing it," Billy
\ntold reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n
Billy, however, declined to go into details about which
\ntransactions the agency thought might have broken the law, saying
\nthat an early disclosure would be inappropriate.<\/p>\n
"We haven't given our opinion to the police about possible
\ntransactions that might have broken the law. Of course, it would
\nbe a bit odd if we told the press first," he said.<\/p>\n
He added, however, that the police and the Attorney General's
\nOffice (AGO) might have different opinions from BPK about the
\nclassification of the transactions.<\/p>\n
"They (police and attorney) have more expertise in determining
\nwhich acts can be considered criminal, and we have more auditing
\nexpertise," said Billy.<\/p>\n
He assured the public that BPK would be prepared to provide
\ninformation should the police and\/or the AGO request further
\nassistance in their ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n
An audit by BPK, issued in the middle of 2003, has drawn a
\ngreat deal of public attention after it said there could have
\nbeen some involvement of two prominent banking authorities, Bank
\nIndonesia (BI) and the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency
\n(IBRA), for allegedly misusing around Rp 20.9 trillion (US$2.4
\nbillion) of government funds deposited in Account No. 502.<\/p>\n
BI has been accused of misusing Rp 17.7 trillion, while IBRA
\nfor the remainder. Both BI and IBRA have consistently denied the
\naccusation, saying that they had followed the rules and
\nstipulations in using the funds.<\/p>\n
However, BI has admitted that about Rp 109.5 billion from said
\nfunds should not have been withdrawn from the account. BI said
\nthat it was due to differences in calendar day counts, currency
\nrates, interest rates and excessive discounts.<\/p>\n
Account 502, in which some Rp 53.77 trillion was deposited in,
\nwas opened in 1999 under the name of the then minister of
\nfinance, Bambang Subianto, who later gave the authority to use it
\nfor BI and IBRA.<\/p>\n
The funds in the account were intended as blanket guarantee to
\npay valid claims submitted by third parties toward closed banks
\nand to ensure banks' clients about the security of their savings
\nfollowing the massive run on banks in 1998.<\/p>\n
Both BI and IBRA are only holders of the account, and
\ntherefore each withdrawal from the account must have been
\napproved by the minister of finance as the owner.<\/p>\n
Police have declared four former officials of both
\ninstitutions as suspects in the graft case, namely BI's former
\ngovernor Sjahril Sabirin, and IBRA's I Gede Putu Ary Suta, Cacuk
\nSudarijanto and Toto Budiarso.<\/p>\n
The Police on Friday started questioning Sjahril, and the
\nprocess will resume next week on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Billy also said that BPK was already in the last stage of its
\naudit on IBRA's performance to find out whether the latter had
\nperformed well in restructuring the banking sector in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
IBRA was established in 1998 during the administration of
\nformer president B.J. Habibie to clean up the banking sector,
\nwhich plunged it into a hectic financial crisis. The agency is
\ndue to finish operating on Feb. 27 this year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bpk-leader-to-help-clarify-alleged-govt-funds-misuse-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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