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)