Banker allegedly amassed Rp 9.4b

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.