Probe BNI case seriously: Mega<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Rendi A. Witular , The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri urged law enforcers on Monday
\nto investigate thoroughly and punish those involved in the high-
\nprofile lending fraud at state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).<\/p>\n
The call came to provide moral support for the law enforcers,
\nas they might be hesitant to solve the case -- particularly amid
\nreports of the possible involvement of well-connected people and
\nkey politicians hungry for funds to finance electoral campaigns.<\/p>\n
\"The president said all who are involved in the case must be
\ninvestigated. No one is untouchable,\" said State Minister of
\nState Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi after attending the first
\nhigh-level government meeting to discuss the BNI fraud since the
\ncase broke out in October.<\/p>\n
The meeting was also attended by Coordinating Minister for
\nPolitical and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
\nCoordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti,
\nIndonesian Military chief Endriartono Sutarto, National Police
\nchief Da'i Bachtiar, Head of the National Intelligence Agency
\nA.M. Hendropriyono, Attorney General M.A. Rachman and Bank
\nIndonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah.<\/p>\n
One of the main decisions of the meeting was to ensure the
\ncloser coordination among relevant agencies to investigate the
\ncase and to track down the flow of the loans. The agencies are to
\nperiodically report the progress of investigations to the
\npresident.<\/p>\n
The police has so far detained two BNI senior officials and
\nthree other people in connection with the crime.<\/p>\n
The BNI scandal, which centers on the improper disbursement of
\nRp 1.7 trillion (US$200 million) in export loans to a number of
\nlocal companies, has taken on a political dimension with the
\nalleged involvement of top politicians ahead of the 2004 general
\nelections.<\/p>\n
When asked whether authorities would publicly reveal the flow
\nof the embezzled funds, Laksamana said the government was still
\nundecided on this matter, as such a move could potentially
\ndisrupt the investigation process. He did not elaborate.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, after a hearing with the managements of BNI and
\nBank Rakyat Indonesia on Monday, House of Representatives
\nCommission IX for financial affairs unveiled plans to set up its
\nown a special committee to probe the scandal, as the case had
\ndragged in several top politicians.<\/p>\n
Commission IX vice chairman Faisal Baasyir said the planned
\ncommittee might also ask the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to assist
\nin the investigation to make sure there were no other fraud cases
\nthat may have been covered up by the BNI management.<\/p>\n
The Commission is to decide on this on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
During the hearing, BNI president Saifuddien Hasan said the
\nbank now expected to recover around Rp 1.04 trillion (US$122
\nmillion) of the abused loans.<\/p>\n
\"We have recouped part of the loans. However, we are still
\nassessing the amount to get an accurate figure,\" said Saifuddien.<\/p>\n
He explained that the figure consisted of $72.2 million the
\nbank had already recouped when the case first broke out in
\nOctober and Rp 433 billion in collateral and seized assets in the
\nform of equity, trade receivables and deposits owned by the
\nsuspects.<\/p>\n
The fraud at BNI, the country's second largest bank in terms
\nof assets, highlights the failure of the bank to conduct a proper
\ncredit appraisal before allowing its Kebayoran Baru, South
\nJakarta, branch to disburse export loans to several local
\nbusinessmen who claimed to be exporting commodities to the Congo
\nand Kenya.<\/p>\n
The debtors used as collateral letters of credit (L\/Cs)
\nguaranteed by banks in Kenya, Switzerland and the Cook Islands,
\nand the bank provided the credits from December 2002 to July
\n2003. It was later discovered that the businessmen had never
\nexported the commodities.<\/p>\n
Saifuddien said he had no plans to submit his resignation,
\nalthough two of the bank's directors -- compliance director
\nMohammad Arsjad and risk management director Binsar Pangaribuan
\n-- had already made such a move.<\/p>\n
\"I will not resign ... I will leave the decision to the
\nshareholders,\" he said after the hearing.<\/p>\n
The shareholders will hold a meeting on Dec. 15 to decide on a
\nreshuffle of the bank's top management.<\/p>",
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