Bank clerks go on trial for graft

Bank clerks go on trial for graft

MEDAN, North Sumatra: A trial of two Bank Danamon employees
opened on Wednesday, on charges of embezzling funds from the
bank's Medan branch early this year.

Usriadi, 32, head of the bank teller section, and his
subordinate Mirwan Nasution, 28, were accused of violating the
Anticorruption Law, which carries a maximum life sentence.

The prosecution said the two stole money via fictitious
transactions between July 2003 and April 2004, causing the bank
Rp 33 billion (US$3.7 million) in losses.

The Medan District Court is set to prosecute three other
suspects in the same case.

The bank scandal in Medan was the third after two other bank
scandals that rocked Bank BNI. Last year, the state-owned Bank
BNI lost Rp 1.7 trillion (US$200 million) due to fraud that
involved its employees.

Another smaller scandal hit the bank early this year, involved
a BNI branch in Magelang, Central Java, which cost the bank Rp 24
billion (US$2.8 million). -- JP