Police question Bambang over cam allegations<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police questioned former president Soeharto's
\nsecond son Bambang Trihatmodjo as a suspect on Friday over
\nallegations of a scam at his liquidated Bank Andromeda.<\/p>\n
Bambang, owner of the widely diversified Bimantara Group, kept
\nhis mouth closed as he made his way through the sea of reporters
\nwaiting outside the National Police headquarters.<\/p>\n
But Antara quoted him as saying that he was questioned as a
\nwitness.<\/p>\n
Bambang's two lawyers, O.C. Kaligis and Juan Felix Tampubolon,
\nwho accompanied him during the four-hour interrogation, also
\nsaid nothing.<\/p>\n
Before the questioning of Bambang, which started at 3:45 p.m.,
\nthe head of the National Police detective corps, Maj. Gen. Da'i
\nBachtiar, told the media that Bambang was to be questioned as a
\nsuspect in the alleged bank scam.<\/p>\n
\"As one of Bank Andromeda's commissioners, he's named as a
\nsuspect in the case but we'll see about it (his status) later in
\nthe investigation,\" said Da'i, giving no details of the
\naccusations or whether Bambang would be arrested.<\/p>\n
He only said that Friday's questioning of Bambang was the
\nfirst such interrogation.<\/p>\n
Bambang's appearance at the headquarters on Jl. Trunojoyo in
\nSouth Jakarta led the National Police to noticeably tighten their
\nsecurity.<\/p>\n
At least 40 plainclothes officers were deployed to form a
\nhuman barricade to protect him at the entrance hall of the
\nDetective Corps office.<\/p>\n
Dozens of press photographers and reporters, who had convened
\nat the headquarters hours before Bambang arrived, were blockaded
\nby the officers from getting either proper pictures or comments
\nfrom the flamboyant businessman.<\/p>\n
According to the available data, Bambang is the first relative
\nof Soeharto to have been labeled a suspect. His father, who ruled
\nthe country for 32 years, resigned on May 21 after massive anti-
\nSoeharto rallies and riots nationwide.<\/p>\n
Bambang, who was scheduled to arrive at 2 p.m., finally showed
\nup at 3:45 p.m. in a shiny black Nissan patrol.<\/p>\n
After waiting impatiently for almost four hours, the media
\nswamped Bambang with questions when he was escorted by police
\nofficers out of the detective office.<\/p>\n
To the reporters' chagrin, Bambang refused to say a single
\nword but kept on walking in the midst of the heavy crowd of
\nofficers and reporters.<\/p>\n
He only posed for two minutes for the photographers.<\/p>\n
None of the police officers, including the head of the
\neconomic crimes unit Col. I Made Mangku Pastika and his
\nsupervisor Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, were willing to comment on
\nthe questioning or when Bambang would be questioned again.<\/p>\n
Bambang was first summoned by the police on Sept. 16, but the
\nquestioning was adjourned because the officers were busy
\ninvestigating other suspected banking criminals.<\/p>\n
Bambang's bank, Andromeda, is one of 21 banks that has been
\nreferred to the police by the central bank, Bank Indonesia,
\nregarding the possible violation of banking laws.<\/p>\n
The bank was one of 16 banks closed down by the government
\nlast November because of allegations that they had violated the
\nrules limiting lending to their own business groups.<\/p>\n
The police's investigation into these liquidated banks is
\nmostly grounded on suspicions that they breached the legal
\nlending limit and failed to report this to the authorities,
\nthereby violating the 1992 Banking Law.<\/p>\n
If found guilty, the suspects face a maximum sentence of six
\nyears imprisonment and a Rp 6 billion (US$550,000) fine.<\/p>\n
Bambang sat on Bank Andromeda's commissioners board along with
\nnoted businessmen Henri Pribadi, Prajogo Pangestu, Peter F.
\nGontha, Jusran and Junanta P. Syarfuan.<\/p>\n
Police have so far completed their investigations into two
\nbanks, Bank Dwipa Semesta and Bank Citrahasta Dhanamanunggal. The
\ndossiers have been handed over to the State Prosecutor's Office.
\n(emf)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-question-bambang-over-cam-allegations-1447893297",
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