Bapindo executives trade accusations in court

JAKARTA (JP): The trials of two men involved in the fraud amounting to losses of Rp 1.3 trillion ($620 million) at Bank Pembangunan Indonesia are turning into bouts of finger pointing between the executives of the government bank who are implicated in the scandal.

Maman Suparman, on trial for allegedly helping businessman Eddy Tansil to secure loans illegally, told the court yesterday that he informed the bank's head office of every single transaction he carried out on the Tansil loans when he was deputy manager of the bank's Jakarta branch.

Apip Sahabuddin, from the head office's banking services division, also insisted that he passed all the information from Maman on to the board of directors.

Their allegations contrast sharply with the testimony given by former Bapindo directors, who have said that they only became aware something was wrong with the Tansil loans in April 1992, nearly three years after the first transaction.

Maman's alleged role was allowing the businessman to cash in on $174 million, a service the prosecution says Tansil paid handsomely for.

Apip told the South Jakarta District Court that based on all the information he passed to the directors, they must have known about some irregularities in three Tansil transactions earlier than April 1992.

Apip said the directors never took any disciplinary action against the branch executives for the series of violations in the issuance of the Tansil loans.

Asked why did the directors failed to react, Apip said he believed there was "outside influence." He did not elaborate.

Apip admitted that he received Rp 100 million ($46,000) from Tansil, and said that when he asked if the others were involved in fixing the loans, Tansil responded by saying that he had taken care of them.

Apip however said he did not know whether this meant that Maman was also receiving payments from Tansil.

Sudomo

Meanwhile Achmad Marzuki, Bapindo's current president, testified that he paid a visit to Sudomo, the chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council who recommended Tansil to the bank, in December 1993 to ask for help in compelling Tansil to pay the money back.

Sudomo suggested that Bapindo help Tansil restructure his loans and allow his petrochemical projects to be completed.

Indriana Tansil, Tansil's wife, said that she recalled signing checks amounting to Rp 100 million for Apip Sahabuddin and Rp 175 million for Riswanto Hadi, another head office executive.

Indriana said she did not know what the checks were for when she signed them at Tansil's request.

She added that she did not know whether Tansil also paid any money to Maman.

The court also heard the testimony of Komariah, Maman's wife, behind closed doors.

Another woman, Mustriani, testified that she sold Maman a house in the plush Pulomas residential area in East Jakarta for Rp 365 million in 1991. (05)