Bank Arta deal not yet approved by govt

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad said yesterday he had not approved the Artha Graha group's acquisition of scandal-plagued Bank Arta Prima.

But Mar'ie said if Bank Indonesia, the central bank, recommended the deal he would approve it.

"If Bank Indonesia has no problem (with the deal) and presents its recommendation to the Ministry of Finance, it means all the requirements have been met," Mar'ie was quoted by Antara as saying yesterday.

But Mar'ie, who was attending a mosque opening ceremony at the customs and excise duty directorate general's headquarters, refused to say if he had had a recommendation letter from the central bank on the acquisition.

"I don't know whether the letter has already been sent to the Ministry of Finance or not. But I had not seen such a letter before I left my office for this ceremony. Anyway, it's not a minister's duty to check incoming mail," Mar'ie said.

Problem Bank Arta Prima was bought on May 17 by the widely diversified Artha Graha group from PT Jagata Primabumi which bought it from the Gunung Agung Group.

Artha Graha said the deal was approved by Bank Indonesia.

Reports say Artha Graha bought the bank through Bank Indonesia which had taken it over from Jagata Primabumi because of a promissory notes (promes) scam.

Artha Graha promised to inject fresh funds into Bank Arta Prima but refused to take over the promissory notes worth Rp 324 billion (US$94.3 million at the current rate) although the notes were all underwritten by Bank Arta Prima.

When buying Bank Arta Prima from Gunung Agung on July 27, 1995, PT Jagata agreed to take over Gunung Agung's debts to Bank Arta Prima of Rp 187 billion and to other financial institutions of Rp 174 billion.

But PT Jagata asked Gunung Agung to issue promissory notes worth Rp 324 billion to settle the latter's debts.

The scam came to light when Jagata failed settle the promes as it had agreed to do.

Six businessmen suspected of being involved in the scam were arrested recently by national police. They include Made Oka Masagung, a former Gunung Agung shareholder, and Kim Johanes Mulia from PT Jagata. The other four are former directors or commissioners of Bank Arta Prima.

Gunung Agung has demanded all charged against its executives be dropped because the scam happened after it had handed over Bank Arta Prima to PT Jagata.

But Jakarta Police Chief of Detectives Col. Gories Mere was reported as saying yesterday that the police were still holding Oka Masagung and Kim Johanes because there were strong indications that they were involved in the scam. (rid)