Key suspect in
\nBNI scam spills
\na few beans<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
One of the prime suspects in the Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI)
\nscandal, one Edi Santoso, admitted in a letter released to
\nreporters on Tuesday that Adrian Waworuntu and Maria Pauline
\nLumowa, two other key suspects in the scandal, promised him the
\nposition of BNI director as an incentive for him to execute the
\nfalse letters of credit disbursement process.<\/p>\n
Edi, former foreign customer service head of BNI Kebayoran
\nBaru branch in South Jakarta, said in the letter that Adrian and
\nMaria, both still at large, said repeatedly that they were close
\nto many high-ranking government officials, including President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri and her husband Taufik Kiemas, all of whom
\nwould be able to smooth the way for any decision to appoint a BNI
\ndirector.<\/p>\n
Based on that account, Edi believed that Maria and Adrian had
\nthe necessary credibility, and he was enticed "directly or
\nindirectly to handle their (false) export transactions" through
\nBNI financing.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, he also believed that they had the capability to
\ngive him excellent referrals to become a BNI director.<\/p>\n
Maria's Gramarindo group was one of the most active firms
\napparently involved in the scandal. It centers around 41 bogus
\nletters of credit worth Rp 1.7 trillion, which BNI disbursed to a
\ngroup of local firms, which were supposed to be used to export
\ncommodities to a handful of African countries.<\/p>\n
The police are holding at least 10 suspects in custody so far,
\neight from the companies involved and two from BNI, including
\nEdi. The National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said earlier
\nthat police would investigate the case seriously because the case
\nhad been very detrimental for the country and could have and even
\nwider political dimension.<\/p>\n
National Police Detective chief Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng
\nconfirmed that police would interrogate all individuals related
\nto the scandal.<\/p>\n
Edi's letter, which was submitted to reporters by his lawyer,
\nHerman Karim, also mentioned that Edi met with Gen. (ret)
\nWiranto, one of the leading presidential candidates from the
\nGolkar party, twice in the period that the transactions had taken
\nplace. The first meeting was held in March at Wiranto's office on
\nJl. Talang Betutu, Central Jakarta. Edi said the first meeting
\nwas for "a normal introduction".<\/p>\n
Wiranto however was shown on SCTV on Tuesday denying the
\nsuggestions, telling reporters that he had "never known" Edi.<\/p>\n
In April, Edi was invited by Maria and Adrian to a house in
\nKemang, South Jakarta. There, he met with those two as well as
\nWiranto, some chairpersons from small political parties and other
\nbusinessmen. They talked about Wiranto's plan to run for
\npresident in 2004.<\/p>\n
According to the letter, at that meeting, Wiranto reportedly
\nsaid that he was ready to become president but had no funds for
\nthe campaign. Maria and Adrian replied that they were ready to
\nraise funds to support his candidacy.<\/p>\n
The letter, however, did not mention whether Wiranto ever
\nreceived funds from them, let alone the bogus money from BNI.<\/p>\n
Rumors in other local media have been rife that perhaps as
\nmany as three of Golkar's seven presidential hopefuls had
\nreceived money from individuals implicated in the scandal.<\/p>\n
Wiranto has denied receiving money from any of the suspects.
\nAnother candidate, Akbar Tandjung, the chairman of Golkar party,
\nmade a similar denial.<\/p>\n
Jusuf Kalla, the coordinating minister of people's welfare and
\nalso another leading Golkar candidate, said previously that PT
\nBukaka Jasa Utama had signed a business agreement worth Rp 4.5
\nbillion with one of the people suspected to be involved in the
\nscam but denied ownership in the company which he claimed was
\nbeing controlled by Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhamad. Fadel is
\none of Golkar's treasurers.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/key-suspect-in-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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