Police name 10 other suspects in BNI scam<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto and
\nZakki Hakim
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Police named on Wednesday 10 other businessmen as suspects in a
\nhuge export loan scam worth Rp 1.7 trillion (US$201.2 million) in
\npublicly listed Bank BNI. The suspects were named in addition to
\ntwo bank officials who were arrested in mid-October.<\/p>\n
\"We are continuing our investigation into the case. We have
\nquestioned nine witnesses and two prime suspects. We have also
\nidentified several suspect 'candidates' from those who have
\nprofited or will profit (from the scam),\" said National Police
\ndeputy chief of detectives Insp. Gen. Suyitno Landung.<\/p>\n
Suyitno said the 10 new suspects comprised two top businessmen
\nwho owned holding company Gramarindo Group and the directors of
\nits eight subsidiaries that received the export loans.<\/p>\n
Suyitno, however, declined to mention the names of the
\nbusinessmen implicated in the case.<\/p>\n
Since the middle of this month, police have detained
\nKoesadiyono, head of the BNI Kebayoran Baru branch in South
\nJakarta, and Edy Santoso, head of the foreign customer service
\ndivision of BNI Kebayoran Baru.<\/p>\n
The BNI scam was centered on the disbursement of credit for
\nthe export of commodities like marble, sand and oil residue to
\nthe Congo and Kenya.<\/p>\n
The export credits were granted to the eight Gramarindo
\nsubsidiaries with letters of credit from banks in Kenya,
\nSwitzerland and the Cook Islands as collateral. Without
\nconducting any formal assessments or checks, BNI Kebayoran Baru
\ndisbursed the export credits from December 2002 to July 2003.<\/p>\n
The police alleged that the bills of loading attached to the
\nletters of credit were fraudulent, as the goods were never
\nexported -- but the export loans were channeled.<\/p>\n
Police said investigators would refer to several laws and
\nregulations that may have been violated by the scam, including
\nCriminal Code Article 263 on document forgery, Law No. 10\/1998 on
\nbanking, Law No. 20\/2001 on anticorruption and Law No. 15\/2002 on
\nmoney laundering, in order to net more suspects.<\/p>\n
Dealers said the scam had worsened sentiment in the stock
\nmarket, causing the Jakarta stock composite index to fall by 0.4
\npercent, or 2.190 points, to 626.862.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Stock Exchange plans to seek clarification from
\nBNI management over the graft allegations, and a meeting has
\napparently been set for Thursday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a law expert from the University of Indonesia (UI),
\nHarkristuti Harkrisnowo, said the scam was a white-collar crime,
\nas it could only be committed by people with access, power and
\nknowledge.<\/p>\n
\"This case is really worrying, because it would affect our
\ncredibility as a nation in the international world of export and
\nimport activities,\" she told reporters, and hoped that the police
\nwould be transparent in solving the case.<\/p>",
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