Bob Hasan vows to repay Rp 2t he received from BI

Bob Hasan vows to repay Rp 2t he received from BI

JAKARTA (JP): Tycoon Mohammad "Bob" Hasan has promised that
his PT Bank Umum Nasional, whose operations were suspended last
month, will repay the Rp 2 trillion received in liquidity credit
from the central bank.

"The bank will be able to repay the money," he told a horde of
journalists covering his six-hour questioning at the Attorney
General's Office here on Thursday.

Hasan, along with several other bankers, were questioned over
liquidity credits totaling Rp 141,52 trillion which Bank
Indonesia injected into 14 troubled banks, including Hasan's Bank
Umum Nasional.

The operations of Bank Umum Nasional, Modern Bank and Bank
Dagang Negara Indonesia were suspended two weeks ago at the same
time as three others banks -- Bank Danamon, Bank Central Asia and
Bank PDFCI -- were brought under government control. Seven other
banks were liquidated last November.

The government recently set a Sept. 21 deadline for troubled
banks to repay liquidity credits to Bank Indonesia. The
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) has been given the
authority to seize bank owners' private assets if they fail to
honor their obligations.

Hasan, who was minister of trade and industry during the last
two months of former president Soeharto's rule, said his bank
received only Rp 2 trillion in credit, most of which had been
used to finance various projects, including many associated with
his PT Kiani Kertas pulp plant in East Kalimantan.

"To support the pulp project we had to build roads, bridges
and a seaport," he said, adding that the minimum income from the
pulp plant was around US$10 million per month.

Hasan, one of Soeharto's heartiest cronies, said the
government could seize his personal assets if it wanted to.

"If they want to take everything I own, I will give it all to
them," he said, adding that he was also ready to face any charges
pressed.

Suhandoyo, acting chief spokesman for the Attorney General's
Office, said the session with Hasan was not part of an
investigation but was an attempt to establish what had become of
the liquidity credit.

"Bob Hasan was questioned in relation to the use of the money
injected into Bank Umum Nasional by the government ... we need to
know how much of that money has been used, and we also need to
find out what assets are owned by the bank," he said.

"The funds received by the troubled banks must be returned to
the state," he said, adding that the questioning went smoothly.

Minister of Forestry and Plantation Muslimin Nasution said the
government has decided to cancel the disbursement of credit worth
Rp 250 billion to PT Kiani Kertas which was going to come out of
the reforestation fund.

He said a presidential decree to cancel the promised credit
would soon be issued.

Meanwhile, Hasan's lawyer, Amir Syamsuddin, confirmed that his
client was ready to face questioning by the police next week
after twice postponing the session.

He said his client could not answer an earlier police summons
because he was undergoing medical treatment for a tumor, but gave
no further details about the state of Hasan's health.

Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, chief of the National Police
detective corps, said on Thursday that the police were ready to
question Hasan and hoped that he would keep his promise.

He also said the police have postponed arresting four
executives from the troubled banks after receiving guarantees
that they would not leave the country from their lawyers and
relatives.

The four are Joni Basuki, president of Bank Umum Sejahtera,
Husni Ali of Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia, Kiki Hamijaya of
Modern Bank and Leonardo Tanubrata of Bank Umum Nasional, Suara
Pembaruan daily reported on Thursday. (rms)