BPKP chairman held 'hostage'

BPKP chairman held 'hostage'

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Enraged by the failure of the government to give them their
money, some 500 former depositors with the now-defunct Bank
Global took the State Development Comptroller (BPKP) chairman
Arie Soelendro "hostage" inside the House of Representatives on
Thursday.

The depositors refused to let Arie leave the meeting room
where he had been attending a meeting with the House finance
commission, demanding that he provide details of the BPKP's
ongoing audit of Bank Global.

The BPKP has been ordered by the government to take an
inventory of Bank Global's assets and depositor funds prior to
the repayment of these funds to eligible recipients.

After being detained for about an hour in the room, Arie was
rescued from the angry depositors by dozens of House security
officers, who broke down the door of the room before ushering
Arie away, amid jeers and curses from the enraged depositors.

"Why should he run away like that? We are not going to mob
him ... We just want to know what's happening with the audit as
we've been left in limbo for six months now," said Suandani, who
said she has some Rp 200 million (about US$21,000) deposited with
the bank.

She said it was not her fault that she had deposited her money
-- earned over 20 years -- in Bank Global as neither the
government nor the central bank had ever warned the public about
irregularities at the bank.

"The troubles at Bank Global should also be blamed on the
failure by the government and Bank Indonesia (BI) to properly
supervise the bank and prevent unscrupulous practices. Instead,
they protected the bank and put the public at risk," she
complained.

BI officially shut down Bank Global on Jan. 13, due to its
falling capital and clear evidence of banking fraud.

Under the existing blanket guarantee scheme, the government
guarantees time deposits and savings in all liquidated banks.

The BPKP and the Ministry of Finance have received data on
9,872 accounts containing Rp 1.25 trillion from Bank Global's
management for audit, with the government having thus far paid
out more than Rp 500 billion to depositors.

However, the two institutions are still in the process of
verifying some accounts as Bank Global's management had used them
for "overdrafting" -- making numerous transfers from one account
to another ending in a fictitious account.

The BPKP has discovered 14 savings accounts containing Rp
21.32 billion that are linked to the owners and management of
Bank Global.

House finance commission member Dradjad Wibowo said the
protesters were depositors whose accounts could not be
immediately verified by the BPKP and the Ministry of Finance.

"The government should make a real effort so that the
depositors can quickly get their money back. Anyway, the trouble
at Bank Global is also the fault of the government and the
central bank due to their weak oversight," he said.