General named BNI scam suspect<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Former fraud squad director at the National Police Brig. Gen.
\nSamuel Ismoko was declared a suspect on Friday for allegedly
\nabusing his power when investigating a bank scam causing some Rp
\n1.7 billion (US$170 million) in state losses.<\/p>\n
The suspect was still being interrogated at 8 p.m. on Friday
\nat National Police Headquarters by an investigative team led by
\nInsp. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani. The questioning started at around
\n10 a.m.<\/p>\n
Last week, his subordinate Sr. Comr. Irman Santosa was
\narrested on the same charge of power abuse in the investigation
\ninto embezzled funds from the Kebayoran Baru branch of Bank
\nNegara Indonesia (BNI).<\/p>\n
\"During the previous questioning, Irman Santoso admitted he
\nhad received orders from his boss, who at that time was Ismoko.
\nTherefore, there must be a link between them in the case. That's
\nwhy we're investigating him (Ismoko) intensively now,\" Yusuf
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Although he did not specify what was meant by \"power abuse\",
\nit is suspected that bribery is the nature of the charge.<\/p>\n
\"We arrested Irman first because he was holding a key position
\nin this case,\" Yusuf said.<\/p>\n
Ismoko is accused of acting beyond his authority by giving the
\nbank fraud suspects, including businessman Adrian Waworuntu,
\nspecial treatment and taking bribes from them in the form of
\nnotebook computers and cellular phones.<\/p>\n
He had earlier faced a hearing by the police's disciplinary
\ncommittee, which barred him from involvement in investigating
\ncases for a year. However, no criminal charges were leveled
\nagainst him.<\/p>\n
Ismoko was transferred from the operational division at
\nNational Police Headquarters after being replaced as the fraud
\nsquad director. Now, he is an advisor to the National Police
\nchief.<\/p>\n
Yusuf, who also heads the police's internal affairs division,
\nsaid his team had found strong indications that Ismoko abused his
\npower when probing the BNI graft scandal based on testimonies by
\n22 witnesses, including Adrian Waworuntu who was in March
\nsentenced to life imprisonment in the same scam.<\/p>\n
Another suspect in the BNI case, Rudi Sutopo, previously
\nadmitted that Ismoko received an allowance amounting to Rp 180
\nmillion from Adrian when he traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, in
\n2003. The suspect also allegedly helped Adrian flee Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Three other police officers, former fraud squad deputy chief
\nSr. Comr. Bambang Premantoro and fellow investigators in the bank
\nscandal Sr. Comr. Mashudi and Adj. Sr. Comr. Wirosaleh -- who
\nalso faced disciplinary hearings -- have not been questioned by
\nYusuf's team.<\/p>\n
However, Yusuf said he had promised National Police chief Gen.
\nSutanto that he would soon complete the investigation into the
\ncase after it was abandoned by former head of the internal
\naffairs division Insp. Gen. Supriyadi.<\/p>\n
The police are still hunting down another key suspect, Maria
\nPauline Lumowa, who remains at large.<\/p>\n
The Dutch woman, who was born in Indonesia, was a commissioner
\nof PT Gramarindo, one of the companies that received the funds
\nfrom BNI Kebayoran Baru. She is currently residing in Singapore
\nbut cannot be arrested by Indonesian police due to the absence of
\nan extradition agreement with the neighboring country.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/general-named-bni-scam-suspect-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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