House to summon banking authorities<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives will summon
\nMinister of Finance Bambang Subianto, Indonesian Bank
\nRestructuring Agency (IBRA) chairman Glenn S. Yusuf and Bank
\nIndonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin on Thursday to disclose their
\nfindings in the Bank Bali scandal.<\/p>\n
\"We'll summon the banking authorities on Sept. 2 to disclose
\ntheir audit results,\" House member Ichsanuddin Noorsy said on the
\nsidelines of a seminar on banking.<\/p>\n
\"If they refuse to meet us, they can be charged with contempt
\nof the legislature,\" said Ichsanuddin, a member of the Golkar
\nParty.<\/p>\n
Ichsanuddin said the meeting was scheduled based on a request
\nmade by the three officials during an Aug. 20 hearing with House
\nCommission VIII for banking and the state budget for two weeks to
\ninvestigate the scandal.<\/p>\n
Australia-based PricewaterhouseCoopers is completing its audit
\nverifying IBRA's internal audit of the Bank Bali case. The
\nforeign company is also auditing the central bank under a special
\nagreement with the Supreme Audit Agency.<\/p>\n
A senior official at the central bank said on Monday
\nPricewaterhouseCoopers was expected to complete its audit of Bank
\nIndonesia on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"They started their audit on Friday afternoon and continued
\nworking on Saturday and Sunday,\" the central bank official said.<\/p>\n
The Bank Bali case centers on the transfer of Rp 546 billion
\n(some US$80 million) from Bank Bali to PT Era Giat Prima (EGP), a
\nprivate firm owned by businessmen linked to the ruling Golkar
\nParty. The money was paid to EGP for its service in helping Bank
\nBali recoup interbank claims on closed Bank Dagang Nasional
\nIndonesia (BDNI).<\/p>\n
IBRA has insisted Bank Bali should not have used the service
\nof EGP because the interbank claims were assured through the
\ngovernment's blanket guarantee program.<\/p>\n
There have been allegations the commission paid to EGP was to
\nbe used to help finance Habibie's presidential bid.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan)
\nchairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, whose party won the June
\ngeneral election with 34 percent of the vote, is seen as
\nHabibie's main rival in the November presidential election.<\/p>\n
Although the Rp 546 billion has been returned to Bank Bali,
\nthe public is demanding the government investigate all those
\ninvolved in the case and take legal action against those who
\nbroke the law.<\/p>\n
Some experts have voiced concern the Habibie administration is
\ntrying to portray the scandal as merely a civil case and prevent
\ninfluential people from being implicated.<\/p>\n
Minister\/State Secretary Muladi read out last week a statement
\nfrom former Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli denying the existence
\nof a personal diary documenting his meetings with several senior
\nministers and Habibie associates ahead of the transaction with
\nEGP.<\/p>\n
PDI Perjuangan lodged a complaint with the National Police
\nagainst Rudy the day after this statement was read out, accusing
\nRudy of being a liar.<\/p>\n
The party's lawyer, Amien Haryoso, said Rudy voluntarily
\nshowed him the diary when Rudy asked him to serve as his counsel.<\/p>\n
There is speculation Rudy was pressured by the Habibie camp to
\ndeny the existence of the diary, alleged copies of which were
\ngiven to journalists two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Detained<\/p>\n
Separately, Indonesian Bar Association deputy chairman Sudjono
\nand the chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) faction in
\nthe House, Zarkasih Nur, demanded Rudy be detained to prevent him
\nfrom tampering with any evidence of his involvement in the
\nscandal.<\/p>\n
\"Since Bank Indonesia deputy governor Soebarjo Joyosumarto has
\nsaid the central bank has found enough evidence to pronounce Rudy
\na suspect in a banking crime, he should be detained to expedite
\nthe investigation,\" Sudjono said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Sudjono and Zarkasih stressed the importance of quickly,
\ntransparently and satisfactorily resolving the scandal in order
\nto free the economy from negative market perception.<\/p>\n
They said Rudy's denial of the existence of a diary he
\nvoluntarily showed to PDI Perjuangan two weeks earlier, provided
\nstrong reason to detain him to prevent his tampering with
\nevidence linking him with the scandal.<\/p>\n
The Bank Bali scandal, which some have compared to the
\nWatergate case which toppled United States president Richard M.
\nNixon in the late 1970s, has become a serious threat to Habibie's
\npresidential bid.<\/p>\n
An economist at Gadjah Mada University, Sri Adiningsih,
\ndoubted the government could satisfactorily resolve the Bank Bali
\nscandal.<\/p>\n
She said the government tended to localize the issue and
\nrefused to include independent investigators in the case.<\/p>\n
In a related development, the police on Monday questioned EGP
\npresident Setya Novanto over the scandal. The questioning of
\nSetya was delayed as police awaited Habibie's permission to
\ninterrogate Setya. This authorization was necessary because Setya
\nis a member of the People's Consultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
\"There were several questions to which Setya did not give
\ndirect answers or answered in a roundabout manner. Otherwise, he
\nappeared quite calm,\" National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Togar
\nSianipar told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Togar said the police were still waiting for written
\npermission from the central bank to open Setya's bank account.
\n(rei\/har\/ylt)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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