Former bank directors held for corruption<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Six businessmen were arrested for alleged
\ninvolvement in corruption related to the issuance of commercial
\npapers and bad credits at Bank Arta Prima in Jakarta, police said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said the men were
\ninvolved in a scam worth Rp 1.2 trillion (US$516 million)
\nconsisting of Rp 324 billion of commercial papers underwritten by
\nBank Arta Prima and Rp 700 billion in bad credits.<\/p>\n
The bank was a subsidiary of Gunung Agung, a widely-
\ndiversified business group of book publishing, a bookstore chain
\nand other businesses.<\/p>\n
\"At least 30 commercial papers worth Rp 324 billion which were
\nendorsed by Bank Arta Prima have been sold to the public,\" Hamami
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Hamami said the bank had issued the commercial papers without
\napproval from Bank Indonesia. Five papers were seized as
\nevidence.<\/p>\n
\"So far, there has not been any indication of involvement of
\nBank Indonesia's employees in the case,\" Hamami said.<\/p>\n
They were identified under the initials CA, HA, and MM,
\nrespectively the former president, director and commissioner of
\nBank Arta Prima. Another was HL, a former manager of the Gunung
\nAgung group.<\/p>\n
Former commissioner of the Gunung Agung group, Made Oka
\nMasagung and businessman, Kim Johannes, have been banned from
\nleaving the country since May 7.<\/p>\n
Hamami said Kim was believed to be the mastermind behind the
\ncrime.<\/p>\n
City Police Chief of Detectives Col. Gories Mere said the men
\nwere charged with violating article 49 of the 1992 Banking Law.
\nIf found guilty, they could face a 15-year jail term and a Rp 1
\nbillion fine.<\/p>\n
The article governs crimes related to falsifying records,
\ndocuments, transactions and other legal reports related to a
\nbank's operations.<\/p>\n
He said the men were involved in a conspiracy to withdraw
\nfunds from Arta Prima through group-related credits in excess of
\nthe central bank-mandated legal lending limits.<\/p>\n
The Gunung Agung group has many subsidiaries, including Bank
\nArta Prima and 30 companies, Gories said.<\/p>\n
\"In an attempt to circumvent the legal lending limits, they
\nextended credits to a company not related to the Gunung Agung
\ngroup,\" Gories said.<\/p>\n
But the borrower, which Gories calls company \"X\", was used as
\na conduit to funnel loans from Bank Arta Prima to other Gunung
\nAgung subsidiaries.<\/p>\n
But company \"X\" later defaulted on the loans mounting to as
\nmuch as Rp 700 billion because the Gunung Agung subsidiaries
\nwhich used the credits failed to pay back the loans.<\/p>\n
Gories said police had so far questioned 10 witnesses,
\nincluding the bank's employees, former executives and banking
\nexperts.<\/p>\n
He said a police investigation into the case was based on a
\nreport from Bank Arta Prima's new management.<\/p>\n
The immigration's control and supervision department had
\nbanned Made Oka and Kim from going overseas following a request
\nfrom the City Police's Directorate of Detectives.<\/p>\n
Both men were earlier charged with violating Law No.3\/1971 on
\ncorruption, the Criminal Code's article 263 on counterfeiting,
\narticle 378 on cheating, and article 56 on conspiracy.<\/p>\n
Kim had been questioned at the Attorney General's Office
\nseveral years ago in a case on tax manipulation related to the
\nrefund of value added tax on exports.<\/p>\n
Kim's investigations were later stopped due to the lack of
\nevidence. (cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/former-bank-directors-held-for-corruption-1447893297",
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