Pradjoto vows to fight IBRA irregularities<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Legal banking expert Pradjoto vowed on Thursday
\nto continue his crusade against irregularities at the Indonesian
\nBank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) despite threats made to his
\nlife.<\/p>\n
He insisted on Thursday that the use of a mediator in
\nassisting Bank Bali to recoup its interbank claims on a closed-
\ndown bank was not normal business practice.<\/p>\n
This rent-seeking practice only increased the budgetary cost
\nof the government-sponsored bank restructuring and
\nrecapitalization program, Pradjoto added.<\/p>\n
He said that Bank Bali should not have paid such a huge fee
\n(Rp 550 billion) for the mediator because the interbank claims on
\nclosed-down banks were supposed to be guaranteed by IBRA, an
\nagency under the Ministry of Finance, in light of the government
\nguarantee on bank deposits and claims introduced in late January
\n1998.<\/p>\n
\"I will fight this kind of transaction. I will not back out
\neven though my life is being threatened,\" he told reporters in a
\njoint media conference with the ruling Golkar party.<\/p>\n
Pradjoto disclosed the Bank Bali scandal at a seminar last
\nFriday and it has now become a high profile scam.<\/p>\n
He alleged that businessman Setya Novanto, who is also deputy
\ntreasurer of Golkar, colluded with IBRA deputy chairman Pande
\nLubis to force Bank Bali to give them some Rp 550 billion to
\nenable the bank to recoup its Rp 904 billion in interbank claims
\non now-defunct Bank BDNI.<\/p>\n
Novanto confirmed on Tuesday the Rp 904 billion transaction,
\nbut defended that his service to Bank Bali was in normal business
\npractice. But he declined to state the amount of fees he
\nreceived.<\/p>\n
Pradjoto came to Golkar headquarters to clarify his
\ndisclosures at a seminar last week, asserting that he never
\ndirectly or explicitly implicated Golkar in the alleged scandal.<\/p>\n
Several Golkar top officials, including its chairman Akbar
\nTandjung, accompanied Pradjoto at the media conference.<\/p>\n
Akbar announced on the occasion that he had set up a special
\nteam to investigate the alleged scandal.<\/p>\n
\"This (the Bank Bali scam) has severely shaken the bank
\nrestructuring and recapitalization program,\" Pradjoto said.<\/p>\n
\"This case has to be thoroughly investigated because it (the
\ntransaction) is against the law and entirely inappropriate,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
\"I know that I'm no longer fighting alone... but even if I
\ndie, the motherland will embrace my body with a smile,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Pradjoto earlier claimed that he and his family were
\nthreatened by certain people after his disclosure of the Bank
\nBali scam.<\/p>\n
Pradjoto is set to meet with officials of the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) on Friday to gather
\nsupport for his crusade against fraud in the banking industry and
\nwith authorities.<\/p>\n
He is also scheduled to meet with the National Awakening Party
\n(PKB) on Saturday.<\/p>\n
PDI Perjuangan and PKB are the largest opposition parties.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, concerns over the Bank Bali affair continue to get
\nstronger.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Transparency Society (MTI) said in a statement
\nthat the government had to immediately clarify the payment made
\nby IBRA to Bank Bali.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian National Private Banks Association (Perbanas)
\nearlier lambasted IBRA for the slowness in repaying interbank
\nclaims on closed-down banks. Most banks had not yet received
\npayment from IBRA.<\/p>\n
\"In order to maintain the credibility of IBRA, any one of its
\nexecutives allegedly involved in the unfair transaction should be
\nsuspended to allow for a smooth investigation process,\" said MTI
\nin the statement signed by its chairman Mar'ie Muhammad.<\/p>\n
MTI also urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
\nWorld Bank to be active in settling the scam.<\/p>\n
Separately, PT Hanil Bakrie Finance lambasted IBRA for its
\ninconsistent policy, citing a May 14 ruling the agency and Bank
\nIndonesia issued.<\/p>\n
This ruling stipulates that bank obligations made to or
\noriginate from the bank's related parties are not covered by the
\ngovernment guarantee scheme, Hanil Bakrie president S.C. Chung
\nsaid on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The May decree annulled the earlier March ruling which
\nstipulated that a wide range of bank obligations were guaranteed,
\nexcept obligations to companies partly owned by the shareholders
\nof the bank creditor.<\/p>\n
Hanil Bakrie has a standby letter of credit claim on closed-
\ndown Bank Umum Nasional. (rei)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pradjoto-vows-to-fight-ibra-irregularities-1447893297",
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