Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Prosecutors are set to summon Minister of Finance Boediono in
\nconnection with the Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI)
\nscandal.<\/p>\n
The first hints emerged from the Attorney General's Office
\nhere on Monday that Boediono would be summoned as a witness as he
\nwas one of the BI board of directors who approved the loan
\nfacilities to struggling banks between 1998 and 1999.<\/p>\n
Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Haryadi Widyasa
\nconfirmed that his office was currently assessing Boediono's role
\nin the scandal, which has already led to the prosecution of his
\nformer boss, former central bank governor Soedrajat Djiwandono,
\nand three senior BI officials.<\/p>\n
Soedrajat was declared a suspect in early May for allegedly
\nabusing his power by extending the emergency loans to 48 now-
\ndefunct commercial banks.<\/p>\n
Three fellow BI directors -- Heru Soepraptomo, Hendrobudiyanto
\nand Paul Soetopo -- are already facing separate trials on charges
\nof breaching banking regulations.<\/p>\n
The three had led a unit responsible for supervising banks
\nthat ran into financial trouble during the peak of the economic
\ncrisis. They allegedly failed to stipulate clearly the
\nrequirements for obtaining the funds that were later disbursed
\nwithout proper procedures being followed.<\/p>\n
Deputy Attorney General Haryadi on Monday assured reporters
\nthat a "team of investigators will set a date for questioning
\nBoediono again."<\/p>\n
Speaking at a retirement party for Assistant Attorney General
\nSoeparman, Haryadi said investigators would seek presidential
\napproval to question the minister.<\/p>\n
Boediono is known to be one of those who attended two key
\nmeetings of the board of directors on Aug. 15 and 20, 1997. Also
\npresent at the meetings were Soedrajat and the three other
\ndefendents.<\/p>\n
The meetings decided that the central bank would disburse
\nstate funds to banks that were facing massive runs in order to
\nrestore public confidence.<\/p>\n
During the monetary crisis, the government channeled a total
\nof Rp 144.5 trillion in liquidity support funds to commercial
\nbanks.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) later found that 95 percent of
\nthat amount, or Rp 138.4 trillion, had either been misused or
\nbeen extended in violation of banking regulations.<\/p>\n
The BPK laid the blame for the malfeasance on the poor
\noversight exercised by the central bank.<\/p>\n
Haryadi claimed that only three of the 48 banks
\nhad not yet been thoroughly probed by investigators since they
\nstarted their work in 2000.<\/p>\n
But he said many of the investigations had now been suspended,
\npending final decisions by senior economic ministers grouped in
\nthe Financial Sector Policy Committee (KKSK) regarding debt
\nsettlement programs designed to recover state losses.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tertiani-zb-simanjuntak-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}