Liquidated bank's offices sealed in surprise move<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The remaining employees of the now-defunct Bank
\nHarapan Sentosa (BHS) found their West Jakarta offices sealed
\nwith a notice barring their entrance yesterday.<\/p>\n
The front doors of the BHS headquarters on Jl. Gajah Mada and
\none of its branches at the nearby Gajah Mada Plaza shopping
\ncenter were sealed with a notice stating the properties were now
\nunder the authority of PT ASABRI.<\/p>\n
PT ASABRI is an institution affiliated with the Indonesian
\nArmed Forces (ABRI).<\/p>\n
The firm, an insurance company serving ABRI members, retired
\nmilitary personnel and civil servants including Ministry of
\nDefense and Security staff, was a BHS client.<\/p>\n
BHS was one of 16 ailing private banks closed by the
\ngovernment three months ago.<\/p>\n
Executives of ASABRI and BHS could not be reached to disclose
\nthe total deposits of the insurance company in the bank.<\/p>\n
ASABRI head of general affairs Totok Sudarto said: "We're not
\ndirectly dealing with BHS. It's the Ministry of Defense and
\nSecurity that deals with the bank."<\/p>\n
A reliable source at ASABRI told SCTV last night the it had
\ndeposits of at least Rp 100 billion in the bank.<\/p>\n
The bank employees, kept on to process the payment of its
\nclients, came to work at about 8 a.m.<\/p>\n
Many decided to wait in front of the offices since they could
\nnot enter.<\/p>\n
Some said the sealing of the bank offices by ASABRI could slow
\ndown their work in liquidating the bank.<\/p>\n
The employees believed the notice was placed late Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Denial<\/p>\n
Totok said ASABRI had nothing to do with the sealing of the
\nbank offices.<\/p>\n
"We're not behind the sealing because such a procedure must
\nhave my approval," Totok told The Jakarta Post last night.<\/p>\n
"I personally only know about it from the television report
\nthis afternoon," he added.<\/p>\n
Totok said ASABRI had no authority to post the notice even
\nthough it was affiliated with the military.<\/p>\n
"As far as I'm concerned, ASABRI didn't send people to seal
\nthe buildings," he said.<\/p>\n
Totok said executives of the insurance company would talk
\nabout the case today with related parties, including a team from
\nBank Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Bank Indonesia handles the payment of deposits owned by
\ncustomers of the liquidated banks.<\/p>\n
When asked to comment about the sealing, a lawyer said the
\naction could not be justified.<\/p>\n
"ASABRI is just one of BHS' customers. Only the liquidation
\nteam has the right to carry out such an action," said Alamsyah
\nHanafiah of Alamsyah Hanafiah and Associates law firm.<\/p>\n
If BHS assets were to be sealed by a third party, it should be
\ndone with the knowledge of the liquidation team, said Alamsyah,
\nwho once worked for BHS owner Hendra Rahardja.<\/p>\n
"The BHS buildings and lands are merely the debt guarantee to
\nrepay its customers," he said. (emf)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/liquidated-banks-offices-sealed-in-surprise-move-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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