Soldiers moonlighting at IBRA called back<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Ahmad Yahya admitted on
\nSaturday to the existence of an official contract made with the
\nIndonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to protect IBRA's
\nofficials and assets in the capital over the past four years.<\/p>\n
"But starting today, I have withdrawn (the military personnel
\nassigned to work for IBRA). For those who are entering retirement
\nor are already retired, IBRA can employ them.<\/p>\n
"Moreover, the contract was not extended past March 2002," he
\ntold reporters after the celebration of the Indonesian Military
\n(TNI)'s 57th anniversary.<\/p>\n
Last Wednesday, IBRA made public the results of its financial
\naudit, which records the allocation of billions of rupiah for all
\nmilitary commands in the country as the fee for protecting IBRA
\nassets across the country.<\/p>\n
TNI and Army top executives brushed aside the report, saying
\nthat the institution had never had any relationship with IBRA and
\nall the money for the regional commands should be first handed
\nover to the Army Headquarters.<\/p>\n
The practice begun in the early days of IBRA in 1998, when a
\nrequest was made to the now-defunct Jakarta branch of the Agency
\nof Coordinating Support for National Stability (Bakorstanasda
\nJaya) for protection and security, Yahya said.<\/p>\n
The agency then assigned 17 intelligence personnel from the
\nJakarta Military Command to IBRA, which in turn paid them as much
\nas Rp 750,000 (US$83) per month, he said. IBRA sent this money
\ndirectly to their personal bank accounts, he said.<\/p>\n
"They were asked to run a 'secretive security' service, for
\nexample, they were deployed at banks or at the homes of IBRA
\nofficials," revealed Yahya, who was recently assigned to his post
\nin August.<\/p>\n
The number of intelligence personnel increased to 33 in the
\n1999 to 2001 term with wages increasing to Rp 1 million each per
\nmonth, he said, adding that in this term alone, IBRA had
\ndisbursed Rp 792 million.<\/p>\n
Bakorstanas and Bakorstanasda were disbanded in 2000, which
\nautomatically ended the contract with IBRA. But then, IBRA
\nextended the contract with the Jakarta Military Command, he said.<\/p>\n
By September, Yahya said, each of the 29 intelligence
\npersonnel were paid Rp 1.4 million per month although their
\ncontracts had ended in March.<\/p>\n
"We have the entire report about the operation, but we did not
\nrecord the finances in our financial report because the money
\ndidn't enter the military command. We calculated that from 1998
\nto 2002, IBRA had disbursed Rp 1.5 billion," he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soldiers-moonlighting-at-ibra-called-back-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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