BPK admits limits in bank scandal audit

JAKARTA (JP): Head of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) Satrio B. Yudono said on Tuesday that legal restrictions and time limitations prevented an audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) from confirming if influential figures were involved in the Bank Bali scandal.

However, Yudono confirmed that fraud was committed and said it was now up to the police to investigate further.

"We have handed over (the audit results) to the police because we're now stagnant," he said after a meeting with several members of the special investigation team of the House of Representatives.

Yudono said BPK and PwC were powerless to act when several influential people declined to be interviewed.

He said the 38 people who could not be interviewed included the head of the Supreme Advisory Council, Arnold A. Baramuli, and State Minister of the Empowerment of State Enterprises Tanri Abeng.

He added that personal bank accounts of several people also could not be audited.

"We recorded (names of people) who objected and reported them to the police for further investigation," he said.

The scandal stems from the transfer of Rp 546 billion from the bank to PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) as a commission for its help in recouping some Rp 904 billion in interbank loans on closed institutions. The bank did not need another party's help because the loans were guaranteed by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

There are allegations that the inner circle of President B.J. Habibie was involved in the scandal, with the payment reportedly earmarked for political purposes ahead of the November presidential election.

BPK has been roundly criticized by both the House and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a lack of transparency in conducting the investigation.

BPK demanded PwC divide its audit into short form and long form reports. The agency has publicly disclosed the condensed report, with the full report only provided to the police for further investigation.

The 36-page summary, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, constitutes a limited report of PwC findings and recommendations. It does not include the flow of funds from Bank Bali to EGP, as well as from EGP to other bank accounts.

Yudono said that the full report could not be handed over to the House and the International Review Committee as requested by the IMF because of restrictions under the banking law and BPK's regulations.

He added that disclosing information on bank accounts would violate banking secrecy codes.

Yudono said the findings could only be made available to the police, the attorney general and, in a tax fraud case, the tax office under the law.

PwC said in the report that it "has uncovered numerous indicators of fraud, noncompliance, irregularity, misappropriation, undue preferential treatment, concealment, bribery and corruption during the processing and payment of the Bank Bali claims".

The alleged fraud was carried out by prominent individuals including ministers, senior government officials, legislators, political party officials and leading members of the business community, it added.

BPK auditing team member Amrin Siregar said that the most important conclusion was that the Rp 904 billion transfer from the central bank to Bank Bali was illegal because IBRA deputy chairmen Farid Harianto and Pande Lubis did not have the authority to order the transaction.

He noted the transfer was made outside regular banking hours at 7 p.m. on June 1.

"This is very suspicious," he said.

In a related development, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Togar Sianipar said on Tuesday that dossiers of eight suspects questioned in the police investigation were being prepared to be handed over to the courts.

The police have named former members of Bank Bali management, two EGP owners and IBRA senior official as suspects.

Meanwhile, former Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli sought protection on Tuesday from the National Commission on Human Rights because of his fears for his safety, the group's secretary-general Clementio dos reis Amaral said.

Amaral said that Rudy appealed for the protection in a meeting with the commission members.

Rudy acknowledged last week the existence of a journal which purportedly describes the involvement of Habibie's inner circle in the scandal. However, he did not confirm the contents

Rudy told journalists after meeting with the commission members that he was often being subjected to terror. (rei/ylt/emf/rms)