AGO speeds up probe into Mandiri case

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A top official of Bank Mandiri and a wife of a gubernatorial candidate were questioned by prosecutors on Monday in connection with an alleged lending scam at Bank Mandiri.

Bank Mandiri's director of corporate banking M. Sholeh Tasripan arrived at 10 a.m. and went through a six-hour questioning session at the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

Although Sholeh was questioned for a second time, he is still being considered a witness.

Sholeh was questioned for a possible role in the disbursement of loans to 24 ineligible companies that caused the loans to turn sour. Several bank directors had been previously questioned.

Former deputy general for special crimes at the Attorney General's Office Sudhono Iswahyudi, who was replaced by Hendarman Supandji on Monday, said that so far investigators had collected enough evidence to draw a conclusion that there were indeed procedural irregularities in the loan disbursement to the companies.

However, he said that the investigators were still studying the case to determine whether it involved Mandiri directors or only directors at the 24 companies.

"Now we're trying to figure out who was responsible for giving the loans to those companies, whether it was the risk management department or top officials at the bank," he said.

He added that the investigators also studied the companies' loan applications to the bank, to determine whether these companies had fulfilled the requirements set by the bank to obtain the loan.

Four out of 24 companies are under intensive investigation by the Attorney General's Office. These companies are local television station PT Lativi Media Karya, PT Cipta Graha Nusantara/Tahta Medan (CGN/TM), PT Siak Zamrud Pusaka and PT Arutmin.

So far, no Mandiri directors have been declared suspects although the Attorney General's Office have arrested four suspects from two companies mentioned above.

Three top officials of PT CGN/TM -- Saiful (commissioner), Diman Ponijan (director) and Edison (president director) -- have been detained, while Nader Taher, president director of PT SZP and also a candidate for Riau islands governor, has also been arrested.

Nader's wife, Sari Dewi was also questioned by the Riau Prosecutor's Office in connection with her role as a commissioner at PT SZP.

She was questioned for three and a half hours but had not been declared a suspect yet.