Bapindo boss gives details of loan losses

Bapindo boss gives details of loan losses

JAKARTA (JP): Bapindo President Director Achmad Marzuki said
the government bank lost a total of Rp 1.05 trillion, or US$489
million, from its transactions with Eddy Tansil.

The total represents what the bank has paid out since Tansil
first took out a loan at the bank in 1989 and includes the losses
from interest earnings and discounts in issuing bankers'
acceptances, Achmad said in his testimony at Tansil's trial at
the Central Jakarta District Court on Saturday.

In addition, Bapindo still has to pay out another $15 million
in August to honor the bankers' acceptance issued for one of
Tansil's companies, Achmad said.

He stressed that the losses will be covered by the state which
owns the bank.

Tansil, the owner of the Golden Key Group, is being tried for
defrauding Bapindo in collusion with bank insiders. The state's
case says Tansil took a total of $448 million from Bapindo by
illicit means. He is charged with corruption and fraud.

A Bapindo branch executive is also being tried separately
while four of its former directors are currently under
investigation, all suspected to have colluded with Tansil.

Achmad told the court on Saturday that he did not know the
total value of Tansil's assets that have been confiscated,
including bank accounts that were frozen, by the Attorney
General.

Meanwhile, Tansil's lawyers disclosed to the court that a
shipment of equipment for the petrochemical project ordered by
Golden Key's affiliate PT Graha Swakarsa Prima is arriving at the
Tanjung Priok port on Thursday.

The equipment is being purchased from Lucky Engineering of
South Korea with a letters of credit issued by Bapindo, said the
lawyers, who sought a court ruling on the ownership of the
shipment.

Judge Soetrisno responded that the court will decide what to
do with the equipment later.

Tansil had earlier denied that his loans at Bapindo had turned
sour and said that the various petrochemical projects that were
to be financed by the loans could still have been completed if he
had not been arrested.

The court on Saturday also heard details of some of Tansil's
private bank accounts.

Amelia Zainan, a head of Danamon Bank's Tamansari branch,
testified that Tansil transferred some Rp 178 billion ($84
million) to a bank in the Cayman Islands from a private account
at Danamon.

This same account received a total of $113 million from Bumi
Daya International Finance between 1991 and 1992, she said.

This account held only Rp 8 million ($3,800) when it was
frozen by the government early this year.

Yap Tjok Hee of Danamon's Kota branch said a private Tansil
account there saw more than 400 transactions between 1992 and
1994, receiving billions of rupiah from Golden Step Development,
a Hong Kong based company Tansil owned.

Yap said when the government froze some 14 accounts at the
bank under Tansil's his companies's names, the amount was Rp 480
million ($228,000) (05/par)