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