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