Bambang points finger at Baramuli

Bambang points finger at Baramuli

JAKARTA (JP): Finance minister Bambang Subianto said on Monday
that Supreme Advisory Council (DPA) head Arnold A. Baramuli had
been meddling in the country's bank restructuring program.

The finance minister's statement was taken as further
indication that the chief adviser to the President was among the
influential people who masterminded the Bank Bali scandal.

Bambang said Baramuli called him by phone one Saturday night
demanding the removal of Glenn S. Yusuf as chairman of the
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), which is under the
finance ministry.

"We received a phone call from someone demanding that next
week the chairman of IBRA must be replaced. He said that
President B.J. Habibie had agreed," Bambang told the House of
Representatives Commission VIII for banking and finance at a
hearing.

When legislator Herman Widiananda asked Bambang who was the
caller, he said: "It was Baramuli."

A crowd of journalists and observers cheered and applauded
Bambang's answer. The hearing was broadcast live by a private TV
station.

The answer provided further key information on the possibility
of who was the mastermind behind the Bank Bali scandal.

Bambang said the call from Baramuli was an example of pressure
the country's banking authorities had been facing.

He explained that prior to Baramuli's call, the finance
ministry and IBRA had been under pressure to allow the agency's
various bank assets be controlled by a state-owned company.

"There were demonstrations against us. Of course, the
demonstrators were directed by someone," Bambang said.

He said that because the pressure to take over the assets of
IBRA did not succeed, replacing Glenn became an alternative.

"Luckily Glenn is still with us," he said.

Bambang, however, declined to confirm whether Baramuli was the
mastermind behind the Bank Bali scandal.

Bambang disclosed Baramuli's call to describe the pressure he
faced over the bank restructuring program.

He claimed he was never put under any pressure to help realize
the Bank Bali transaction which lead to the scandal.

The scandal revolves around the questionable transfer of Rp
546 billion from Bank Bali to private firm PT Era Giat Prima
(EGP) as a fee for recouping interbank loans. There has been
allegations that the President B.J. Habibie camp was using EGP as
a vehicle to help raise money for political purposes in the lead-
up to the November presidential election.

Legislators grilled Bambang on whether there were powerful
people who forced him to agree to the Bank Bali-EGP transaction.

Herman said that former Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli
indicated in the morning to the House's special investigation
team that Baramuli and State Minister of the Empowerment of State
Enterprises Tanri Abeng were among the influential people
involved in the scandal.

Bambang is one of the ministers apparently listed in the "Bank
Bali journal", an chronology of successive meetings between Rudy
and several ministers, high-ranking state officials and
businessmen close to Habibie. Baramuli and Tanri were also named
in the journal.

Rudy acknowledged the existence of the journal in a hearing
with Commission VIII last week.

Bambang also acknowledge that parts of the journal were
factual, particularly bits involving his name.

Bambang said it was true that he was asked by businessman M.
Manimaren to introduce him to Rudy.

"I was not suspicious at the time," Bambang said.

Bambang said he did introduce Manimaren to Rudy, but claimed
not to know whether they made any kind of deal.

Bambang also said that, during his meeting with Rudy, they
only discussed Bank Bali's difficulties in recouping the
interbank loans, which were covered by a government blanket
guarantee.

"There wasn't any mention of EGP nor the cession agreement,"
he said.

Summon

Meanwhile, legislator Herman said he would suggest to the
House leaders that Baramuli be summoned for questioning.

"We have to discuss this first with the House leaders because
Baramuli is head of the DPA," he said.

Baramuli is a senior politician with high skill in passing
through the country's political minefield.

Last week, Habibie named Baramuli as the one who gave him the
controversial written statement from Rudy denying the existence
of the journal. Rudy later denied authoring the statement.

Baramuli then claimed he received the statement through the
mail. He denied allegations that he had forced Rudy to sign the
statement. He also denied allegations that he was involved in the
scandal.

The Habibie administration is under strong pressure to
immediately resolve the Bank Bali scandal. The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) has reportedly decided to delay its aid
disbursement to the country due to the slow progress in resolving
the Bank Bali case.

The IMF has also expressed disappointment over the lack of
transparency in dealing with the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit on
the Bank Bali transaction.

Bambang acknowledged that the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit was
not enough to unravel the Bank Bali scandal. He pointed out that
the international auditor was not allowed to completely trace the
flow of funds in the Bank Bali transaction, nor was it able to
question another 38 people.

He said his office had so far only received the "short form"
of the audit result. He said there were two types of reports: the
short form and the long form. (rei)