Anticorruption team focuses on bad debtors

Anticorruption team focuses on bad debtors

The government-sponsored interdepartmental corruption eradication
team investigation into a series of bad loan scams at state-owned
Bank Mandiri are will be investigating more companies.

Coordinator for the anticorruption team and the Attorney
General's deputy for special crime Hendarman Supandji, said on
Monday that the team would probe more companies that have bad
debts with Bank Mandiri, pending audit results from the Supreme
Audit Agency (BPK).

"The BPK is now auditing some of the debtors, which are
included in category 5, the worst category. Some of them are
among the 28 companies allegedly having trouble (repaying) the
loans," he said.

Four of the 28 companies that are now the focus of intensive
investigation are PT Lativi Media Karya, PT Siak Zamrud Pusaka,
PT Cipta Graha Nusantara/Tahta Medan and PT Artha Bhama
Texindo/Artha Tri Mustika Texindo.

The team is also conducting preliminary investigations into
two other debtors, PT OSO Bali Cemerlang and PT Batavindo
Kridanusa.

The lending scam worth more than Rp 12 trillion (US$1.26
billion) led to the arrest of the bank's former president
director ECW Neloe and vice president director I Wayan Pugeg,
whose detention period was extended by another 20 days.

Bank Mandiri said on Tuesday that nearly all incumbent
directors -- not only president director Agus Martowardojo and
director for consumer banking Omar S. Anwar -- had been summoned
by prosecutors for questioning. The bank was responding to an
earlier report that Hendarman would declare more directors as
suspects should there be sufficient evidence of their involvement
in the case. -- JP