Key BNI suspect arrested<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
One of the key suspects in the Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI)
\nscandal was arrested Tuesday evening at an unspecified locale in
\nJakarta after being on the lam for about a month.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Gen. (ret) Wiranto, one of Golkar's candidates,
\nfiled a complaint with the police on Wednesday against another
\nsuspect and his lawyer for suggesting that Wiranto had met with
\nseveral of the suspects thought to be involved in the BNI scandal
\nprior to the disbursement of hundreds of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n
National Police Spokesperson Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis said that
\nthe suspect, identified as Adrian Waworuntu, was now undergoing
\npolice interrogation at the national police headquarters.<\/p>\n
Adrian is the co-owner of Gramarindo, a business group that
\nreportedly received Rp 1.7 trillion (US$200 million) from
\npublicly listed BNI in the form of 41 bogus letters of credit
\nissued by some questionable foreign banks. The other owner is
\nMaria Paulien Lumowa, who is still at large.<\/p>\n
\"We have been questioning Adrian Waworuntu since Tuesday
\nnight. With his arrest, we hope that we can add some more
\nwitnesses and evidence relating to the case,\" said Zainuri.<\/p>\n
Zainuri said Adrian gave $5 million, presumably proceeds from
\nthe scam, to police but stressed that Adrian could not escape
\nprosecution despite the gesture.<\/p>\n
\"The investigation process will go forward, although the
\nsuspect has handed over some of the money,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The arrest of Adrian brings the number of suspects in police
\ncustody to 11. Police had earlier questioned and detained 10
\nothers, three BNI officials and seven directors of subsidiaries
\nof the Gramarindo Group.<\/p>\n
The scandal revolves around the redemption of 41 bogus letters
\nof credit worth Rp 1.7 trillion by BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch in
\nSouth Jakarta from July 2002 through June 2003.<\/p>\n
Edi Santoso, former BNI Kebayoran Baru foreign customer head
\nand one of the suspects in the scandal, revealed on Tuesday that
\nAdrian and Maria had promised to push for his promotion as a BNI
\ndirector in exchange for his assistance in redeeming the letters
\nof credit.<\/p>\n
He also made public a letter, in which he stated that he met
\nwith Wiranto twice during the period in which the scam was going
\non. According to Edi's letter, the first meeting was held in
\nMarch at Wiranto's office on Jl. Telung Betutu, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The second meeting took place in April when Edi was invited to
\na house in Kemang, South Jakarta. There, he met with Wiranto,
\nsome chairpersons of small political parties and businessmen.
\nThey talked about Wiranto's plan to run for president in 2004.<\/p>\n
According to the letter, Wiranto said that he was ready for
\nthe presidency but had no funds for the campaign. Maria and
\nAdrian replied that they were ready to raise funds to support his
\ncandidacy.<\/p>\n
The letter, however, fell short of confirming previous rumors
\nthat Wiranto was one of a possible three Golkar presidential
\ncandidates who allegedly received money from BNI scandal
\nsuspects.<\/p>\n
Wiranto denied on Wednesday that he knew or met with Edi
\nSantoso.<\/p>\n
Wiranto's lawyers filed the police complaint against Edi and
\nhis lawyer Herman Kadir.<\/p>\n
\"Wiranto doesn't know Edi. It is possible that he came to our
\nclient's house because as a presidential candidate, Wiranto has
\nto meet with so many people. And he can't remember meeting with
\nEdi. Anyway, we will check our client's guest book,\" Wiranto's
\nlawyer Yan Juanda told the press on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
A hand-out released by the lawyers stated that Wiranto had
\nnothing to do with BNI scandal. Wiranto also denied having any
\nbusiness connection directly or indirectly with any of the BNI
\nscandal suspects, including Edi, Maria, Adrian or Ollah Agam.<\/p>\n
\"Wiranto knows Adrian only because both have the same interest
\nin riding big motorcycles,\" said Ray Abikusno, another of
\nWiranto's lawyers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, police said that they were not aware of the letter
\nreleased by Edi to the press on Tuesday but promised to
\ninvestigate all allegations.<\/p>\n
\"We do not know anything about the letter. It has not been
\nsubmitted to us or recorded in the dossier. But we will check
\nEdi's letter because we have him in our custody,\" said Zainuri.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/key-bni-suspect-arrested-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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