Banker allegedly amassed Rp 9.4b

Evi Mariani , The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

If it were not for a promotion that moved him to the bank's headquarters office, no one would have suspected that a Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) official allegedly misused his authority to amass wealth of about Rp 9.4 billion over the past five years.

Jakarta Police revealed on Tuesday that they had detained the suspect, identified as Gun, when the alleged scam was reported by internal audit officers on Nov. 12.

"He may face multiple charges under the banking law, anticorruption law and money laundering law," police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said.

The police's investigation revealed that, as a manager of the bank's Central Jakarta special branch in BRI Tower II, on Jl. Sudirman, Gun had the authority to control customers' interest, which he transferred to his personal account.

"He was the head of the branch's funds and services department. Using his position, he arranged to 'park' interest on customers' deposits in his bank account, before the interest payment to the customers was due," Tjiptono said.

Gun gained "profit" from the interest on the funds in his account, he added.

"The bank had received no customer complaints over the amount of their interest or any tardy payments. Obviously, Gun was careful not to draw attention to his activities for five years."

Upon his transfer to the bank's headquarters office, the auditors found a huge difference in the balance of all deposit accounts.

Tracking down the irregularity, the auditors were led to an unregistered account under the name of Achmad Sumardjo, which had Rp 1.1 billion in it. Further examination disclosed that the account was initially registered under the name of Gun, but Gun had broken into the database and changed the name to the fictitious one in March 1999.

"He later transferred the money to his Bank Central Asia account and withdrew it via auto teller machines," head of the Jakarta Police's fiscal, monetary and state savings department, Adj. Sr. Comr. Aris Munandar explained.

Since the investigation started, the police had seized a total of about Rp 5 billion of Gun's wealth, including three luxury cars, four properties in West Jakarta and Bekasi, 10 air conditioners and other electronic goods, as well as freezing the suspicious bank account.