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.