`Attorney General's office not slow in handling Kanindo case'

JAKARTA (JP): A senior official of the Attorney General's Office yesterday rejected the allegation that his office has been slow at investigating the debt scandal at the Kanindo textile company.

Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes A. Soetomo told reporters yesterday that his office is waiting for word from the Ministry of Finance that the debacle has caused financial losses to the state before it can start investigating Kanindo, which is owned by controversial businessman Robby Tjahyadi.

"You cannot say that we are very slow in anticipating the potential debt arrears of Robby Tjahyadi," he told reporters.

He added that the Attorney General's office is monitoring the situation closely and has already started to gather data and information.

Robby is reported to have defaulted on some Rp 500 billion (US$239 million) worth of loans with two government banks, Bank Bumi Daya and Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo).

News of Kanindo's financial trouble surfaced in August when the company was rumored to be facing a takeover by Texmaco, a major textile producer, and the Association of Batik Cooperatives (GKBI).

This came immediately on the heels of another loan scandal, involving Rp. 1.3 trillion ($620 million), also at Bapindo. The bad loans were issued to Eddy Tansil, the owner of the Golden Key Group, which is active in petrochemical projects.

A new twist to the Kanindo debacle was added this week with the allegations that Kim Johannes, a textile businessman, has been forging export documents in support of his loan applications at Bapindo. He has used the funds to keep to Kanindo afloat.

Soetomo said the Attorney General's Office is working closely with the directorate general of customs and excise duties in investigating the export documents. (02)