Bapindo official tried for role in Rp 1.3t scam
Bapindo official tried for role in Rp 1.3t scam
JAKARTA (JP): Maman Suparman, formerly deputy manager of
Bapindo's branches in Jakarta, was arraigned yesterday at the
South Jakarta District Court on charges of corruption.
Government prosecutors told the court that Maman helped
businessman Eddy Tansil cash large credits from Bank Pembangunan
Indonesia in violation of standard banking practices.
Maman was directly involved in the disbursement of some US$174
million, or Rp 348 billion, worth of loans from the government
bank between December 1989 and May 1992, according to the
prosecution.
Maman was accused of accepting bribes totaling Rp 256 million
($119,460) from Tansil for his services.
His actions "were harmful to state finances and the economy,"
Mohammad Yamin, who is leading the prosecution team, said.
The prosecutor charged Maman under the 1971 anti-corruption
law, violation of which carries a maximum penalty of life
imprisonment.
Maman, who turned 48 on Sunday, is the second person to be
brought before the court in connection with the Rp 1.3 trillion
($620 million) scandal at Bapindo.
Tansil, owner of the Golden Key Group and the main suspect in
the scandal, is being tried at the Central Jakarta District Court
while four former Bapindo directors are currently under
investigation.
The diminutive Maman, who turned up in a white long-sleeve
shirt and black pants, remained impassive during the two-and-a-
half hour hearing although his face looked pale.
In marked contrast to Tansil's trial, the spectators at
yesterday's hearing were calm. There were no abusive or hostile
shouts that have colored Tansil's hearings.
Police, however, were taking no chances, deploying as many as
300 officers to guard almost every corner of the court building.
The tiny court room, which could only seat 50 spectators, was
filled and most people, including hordes of journalists, were
forced to follow the trial through a speaker installed outside
the room.
According to the prosecution, Maman signed several letters of
credit between 1989 and 1992 for the benefit of companies under
the Golden Key Group. They were co-signed by J. Sukardi, head of
the division of foreign service of the Jakarta branch.
The credits were issued to finance the purchase of machinery
and equipment, but Maman never insisted on seeing the sales
contracts when he signed the letters of credit nor did he ask the
bank's credit analysts to produce a report as is normally
required of such loans.
Maman, according to the prosecution, also converted many of
these usance letters of credit into red clause ones without the
written approval of his superiors.
These conversions, and the change of the name of beneficiaries
from South Korean and Chinese suppliers to a Hong Kong-based firm
owned by Tansil, allowed the businessmen to cash in on the loans.
Rp 500,000 each
The prosecution also reached back to 1984 when Maman served at
Bapindo's branches in Bandung, Surabaya and Jakarta and found
that he had taken Rp 500,000 for each credit he helped approve.
Excluding the bribe he allegedly took from Tansil, Maman
received a total of Rp 306 million ($143,000) from his clients,
the prosecutors said.
The Attorney General's office has already confiscated a luxury
house in the exclusive Pulo Mas area of East Jakarta owned by
Maman, worth an estimated Rp 200 million, and frozen many of his
bank accounts.
The hearing was adjourned until Thursday when Maman's lawyers
will present their defense.
Maman's trial, which is being presided over by the Chief of
the South Jakarta District Court Soedjatman, will include the
testimony of at least 29 witnesses, according to court sources.
Denny Kailimang, one of Indonesia's top criminal and corporate
lawyers, who has been retained by Maman, yesterday urged the
judge to place his client under house arrest so that he could
better prepare his defense.
Denny said there was no reason to keep Maman under arrest and
pointed out that his client had already lost five kilograms since
he was detained on Feb. 16. (05)