Adrian too sick to come: Lawyer

Adrian too sick to come: Lawyer

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A lawyer representing Adrian Waworuntu, one of the main suspects
in a Rp 1.7 trillion (US$190 million) bank scandal, told the
police on Thursday his client was too sick to answer a police
summons.

Lawyer Doni Antares Irawan said Adrian was still hospitalized
in Manado, North Sulawesi, and asked that the police give him at
least seven days to recuperate.

"My client is too sick and I have asked that he be given seven
days for his treatment. I guarantee that Adrian will be here on
Oct. 1. If he does not turn himself in, then arrest him," Doni
told The Jakarta Post without elaborating on the nature of his
client's illness.

Adrian was summoned to National Police Headquarters in Jakarta
on Wednesday but failed to show up, prompting the police to issue
a warning that they would arrest him.

Doni said police accepted that his client was ill and agreed
to delay the summons for seven days.

The National Police's director of economic crimes, Brig. Gen.
Samuel Ismoko, acknowledged that Adrian's lawyer had approached
him about the matter.

"I will check his condition first before granting him the
time. We will send a team of doctors to check his health," said
Ismoko.

Police were expected to hand over Adrian to the prosecutor's
office as soon as Thursday, following an announcement by
prosecutors that his case file had been completed for two weeks.

The police seem to have had trouble locating Adrian, as he has
not been in police custody since early this year.

Many have speculated that Adrian is out of the police's reach,
and the claims of illness are simply a tactic to avoid justice.

Another main suspect in the case, Maria Pauline Lumowa, the
owner of the Gramarindo Group, was able to avoid arrest by
fleeing abroad.

Several businesspeople from the Gramarindo and Petindo groups
are accused of misusing Rp 1.7 trillion from Bank Negara
Indonesia (BNI)'s Kebayoran Baru branch in 2002. Authorities
accuse the businesspeople of using bogus letters of credit
allegedly issued by banks in Congo and Kenya.

Police have named a total of 15 people as suspects in the
case. Two of them, Koesadiyuwono and Edi Santoso from the BNI
Kebayoran Baru branch, have been sentenced to 15 years and life
in prison, respectively. Several other suspects are now being
tried at the South Jakarta District Court.