BPKP chairman held 'hostage'<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Enraged by the failure of the government to give them their
\nmoney, some 500 former depositors with the now-defunct Bank
\nGlobal took the State Development Comptroller (BPKP) chairman
\nArie Soelendro "hostage" inside the House of Representatives on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The depositors refused to let Arie leave the meeting room
\nwhere he had been attending a meeting with the House finance
\ncommission, demanding that he provide details of the BPKP's
\nongoing audit of Bank Global.<\/p>\n
The BPKP has been ordered by the government to take an
\ninventory of Bank Global's assets and depositor funds prior to
\nthe repayment of these funds to eligible recipients.<\/p>\n
After being detained for about an hour in the room, Arie was
\nrescued from the angry depositors by dozens of House security
\nofficers, who broke down the door of the room before ushering
\nArie away, amid jeers and curses from the enraged depositors.<\/p>\n
"Why should he run away like that? We are not going to mob
\nhim ... We just want to know what's happening with the audit as
\nwe've been left in limbo for six months now," said Suandani, who
\nsaid she has some Rp 200 million (about US$21,000) deposited with
\nthe bank.<\/p>\n
She said it was not her fault that she had deposited her money
\n-- earned over 20 years -- in Bank Global as neither the
\ngovernment nor the central bank had ever warned the public about
\nirregularities at the bank.<\/p>\n
"The troubles at Bank Global should also be blamed on the
\nfailure by the government and Bank Indonesia (BI) to properly
\nsupervise the bank and prevent unscrupulous practices. Instead,
\nthey protected the bank and put the public at risk," she
\ncomplained.<\/p>\n
BI officially shut down Bank Global on Jan. 13, due to its
\nfalling capital and clear evidence of banking fraud.<\/p>\n
Under the existing blanket guarantee scheme, the government
\nguarantees time deposits and savings in all liquidated banks.<\/p>\n
The BPKP and the Ministry of Finance have received data on
\n9,872 accounts containing Rp 1.25 trillion from Bank Global's
\nmanagement for audit, with the government having thus far paid
\nout more than Rp 500 billion to depositors.<\/p>\n
However, the two institutions are still in the process of
\nverifying some accounts as Bank Global's management had used them
\nfor "overdrafting" -- making numerous transfers from one account
\nto another ending in a fictitious account.<\/p>\n
The BPKP has discovered 14 savings accounts containing Rp
\n21.32 billion that are linked to the owners and management of
\nBank Global.<\/p>\n
House finance commission member Dradjad Wibowo said the
\nprotesters were depositors whose accounts could not be
\nimmediately verified by the BPKP and the Ministry of Finance.<\/p>\n
"The government should make a real effort so that the
\ndepositors can quickly get their money back. Anyway, the trouble
\nat Bank Global is also the fault of the government and the
\ncentral bank due to their weak oversight," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bpkp-chairman-held-hostage-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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