BI officers deny allowing bank to block accounts

JAKARTA (JP): High-ranking officers from the central bank, Bank Indonesia, have admitted to never having given permission to the Standard Chartered Bank branch office here to freeze the Rp 1 billion (US$45 million) account of two of its customers, according to a police officer.

"The statement was given to us orally a few days ago and the Bank Indonesia officers have promised to give us the written version soon," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Nurfaizi told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

When asked whether the statement from the central bank officers would make it possible for the police to name executives of the Standard Chartered Bank as suspects in the six-month dispute, Nurfaizi said: "We still need more statements from several witnesses in order to make this case clear."

According to the head of the economic crime section at the National Police headquarters, Col. Chairudin Ismail, the probe into the six-month-old dispute still needs further investigation to reach a conclusion.

When asked whether the investigators have named the foreign bank as the losers in the dispute following the questioning against the bank executives and other witnesses, Chairudin said: "We're still studying which articles could be used."

As of yesterday, the economic crime section police officers had questioned executives of the foreign bank, including its chief executive, David Hawkins.

Reliable sources told the Post yesterday that cashiers of the bank will be summoned for questioning on Monday and a former Bank Indonesia officer on Wednesday.

The dispute between the foreign bank and its two customers, Yee Mei Mei and Azusa Matsuyama, has attracted the coverage of both local and international media after Yee Mei Mei, a Hong Kong national, filed a lawsuit against the bank for allegedly blocking her account without justification since January.

Mei Mei and Matsuyama used the same account at the bank for the financial operations of the Jakarta branch office of investment company Dragon Bank.

On the other hand, the bank argued that it froze Mei Mei's account following a suggestion from Bank Indonesia and the Standard Chartered Bank's prudent policy.

On March 5, Hawkins wrote a letter to the customers suggesting a possible out-of-court settlement by returning the accounts to normal operations "on condition that the foreign bank receive written confirmation from Yee Mei Mei and Azusa Matsuyama that they are withdrawing all charges against Standard Chartered Bank, both over the funds in the accounts, and over the way in which they have been operated, and that they have withdrawn" the case.

When asked to comment on the bank's offer, Mei Mei's lawyer said that his client has warmly welcomed the proposal on the condition that the Standard Chartered Bank rehabilitates her name and pays a certain amount of money for the reimbursement of material losses suffered by them.

Mei Mei is sueing the bank for US$300 million to cover the losses she claims to have suffered during the dispute.

The bank has declined to comment publicly on her demand. (bsr)