Bank Bali suspects sent to prosecutor's office
JAKARTA (JP): Four suspects in the Rp 546 billion Bank Bali scandal were remanded together with their dossiers to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office on Thursday.
The prosecutor's office will begin reexamining the case in preparation for trial and the suspects -- former directors of the bank Rudy Ramli, Rusli Surjadi, Firman Soetjadja and Henri Kurniawan -- will be held at Cipinang Penitentiary.
The bankers and an executive of PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) Djoko S. Chandra have been detained as suspects in the case since Sept. 29. Another EGP suspect, Setya Novanto, was also detained at the time but was subsequently released because of his immunity from arrest as a member of the People's Consultative Assembly. President B.J. Habibie, sever of whom's aides have been implicated in the case, would have to grant permission for Setya's arrest.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Togar Sianipar said on Thursday the dossiers of Djoko and Setya remained incomplete.
He said police performed "maximum" efforts in probing the suspects' role in the scandal, based on Article 374 of the Criminal Code concerning embezzlement.
"The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office wants to start its own investigation based on Law No. 3/1971 on corruption," Togar said.
"The office feels that Rudy could tell a lot about the corruption that occurred in the scandal. It has every right to start its own investigation."
Togar said the police so far questioned three high-ranking officials in the investigation: Central Bank Governor Sjahril Sabirin, State Minister of the Empowerment of State Enterprises Tanri Abeng and Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto.
"All the officials avowed having no idea about the scandal," Togar said.
He said the officials were summoned for questioning to also help clarify a report filed by foreign auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on the transactions involved in the scandal.
The most recent top official to be questioned was Sjahril, who appeared at National Police Headquarters on Tuesday.
The central bank governor said police investigators asked him several questions, including ones related to a joint decree issued by the central bank governor and minister of finance, and a meeting on June 1 concerning Bank Bali.
The joint decree governs the government's blanket guarantee program, which guarantees all banking obligations of closed banks. The June 1 meeting discussed the disbursement of Bank Bali's interbank loans, which are guaranteed by the government.
The scandal, with a high-profile cast of characters, has received sustained media interest and caused a huge public outcry. Many have speculated that Rudy and the other police suspects are scapegoats and that the real culprits will elude prosecution. Particular derision has been reserved for Habibie's garrulous chief advisor A.A. Baramuli, who has continually disavowed involvement in the scandal. (ylt)