Another BNI scam ready for trial
Another BNI scam ready for trial
Abdul Khalik
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Jakarta prosecutors are preparing indictments against five
suspects in the Rp 46.5 billion (US$5.17 million) BNI Pondok
Indah scandal.
The head of the intelligence unit at the Jakarta Prosecutor's
Office, Farried Haryanto, said on Thursday prosecutors began
preparing the charges after completing the case files on the
suspects and handing them to the police on Jan. 28.
"We will probably bring the suspects to the South Jakarta
District Court in one or two weeks. We have to discuss the case
first with senior prosecutors to complete the indictments,"
Farried told The Jakarta Post.
Earlier, several employees from the BNI Kebayoran Baru branch
in South Jakarta were sentenced to up to life in jail for giving
out credits to businesspeople using bogus letters of credit as
collateral.
He said five suspects -- former BNI Pondok Indah branch head
Mochamad Supedi, the deputy head of the Jakarta region for BNI
Noortjahyo Zunoor, BNI Pondok Indah branch marketing employees
Mukhlis Budianto and Moejibur Rahman, and branch appraisal staff
member Alfonsius Weheb -- had been in the custody of prosecutors
before being turned over to the police.
All of them are being charged with violating articles 2 and 3
of Law No. 31/1999 and Law No. 20/2001 on corruption, Article 49
of Law No. 10/1998 on banking, and articles 55 and 56 of the
Criminal Code. The suspects could face a maximum punishment of 20
years in prison if found guilty.
Earlier, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said the
police had completed one corruption case on the priority list of
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his first 100 days in
office.
"Prosecutors declared the case file complete on Jan. 28. So we
met the deadline because it was a priority case that was to be
finished in the first 100 days of Susilo's administration," said
Tjiptono.
The five suspects in the BNI case were arrested in November
last year after an audit by the Development Finance Comptroller
found the BNI Pondok Indah branch had lost Rp 46.5 billion in
several transactions.
However, police have failed to arrest key suspects Hendra Lee
and Indra Budianto, two businessmen who allegedly used fictitious
collateral to get loans from the branch.
"The five suspected bank officials conspired with the two
businessmen to give them the loans without verifying their
collateral," said Tjiptono.
During 2002 to 2003, Hendra and Indra allegedly obtained 10
loans with collateral from 11 fictitious companies, including PT
Indo Seluler Primajasa, PT Intel Milan Elektronik, PT Sinar Surya
Seluler, PT Tulus Jati Motor and PT Sinar Surya Perkasa.
Police investigating the case found that none of these
companies exist.
"The two suspects fled overseas before the case was reported
to the police. We have issued red notices to get help from
Interpol to nab them," Tjiptono said.
BNI branches with allegedly fictitious collateral loans
No. Branches Amount Case Status
1. Radio Dalam, South Jakarta Rp 165 billion under investigation
2. Tangerang, Banten Rp 32.2 billion under investigation
3. BNI headquarters Rp 6 billion not clear
4. Pondok Indah Rp 46.5 billion ready for trial
5. Kebayoran Baru Rp 1.7 trillion several suspects
sentenced, others
on trial
Total Rp 1.95 trillion