Corruption probe to target BNI directors

Corruption probe to target BNI directors

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Over a year into their investigation into a lending scam
involving Bank Negara Indonesia that caused some 1.7 billion
(US$170 million) in state losses, the National Police are now
directing their attention to the bank's board of directors.

In the case, fictitious letters of credit were issued by the
Kebayoran Baru branch of BNI in 2003 to suspects linked to PT
Gramarindo.

Insp. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani, who leads the special
investigative team assigned to the scandal, said on Monday top
officials of state-owned BNI may have been involved in producing
the fake letters of credit.

"There must be someone at BNI's headquarters who authorized
the disbursement of money from the Kebayoran Baru branch," he
said.

It was agreed that the bank's board of directors
would be questioned after National Police chief Gen. Sutanto
formed the special team to investigate alleged power abuse by a
previous team of police officers led by Brig. Gen. Samuel Ismoko
in investigating the BNI case.

Ismoko, who was a former fraud squad director, and his
subordinate Sr. Comr. Irman Santosa have been declared suspects
in the power abuse case. But only Irman is being detained.

"We haven't arrested Ismoko yet because we have to be careful
in the investigation. We will cross check his statement with
Adrian Waworuntu at Cipinang Penitentiary today (Monday)," Yusuf
said.

Adrian, a businessman, was convicted recently of involvement
in the BNI lending scam and sentenced to life by the South
Jakarta District Court.

Yusuf said his team would also summon 15 other subordinates of
Ismoko from the police's fraud squad division, which investigated
the bank scandal, over the same power abuse charges.

"We will do it one by one, and don't worry we will investigate
them all," Yusuf promised.

Ismoko is accused of acting beyond his authority by giving the
bank fraud suspects, including Adrian Waworuntu, special
treatment and taking bribes from them in the form of notebook
computers and cellular phones.

The one-star police general had earlier been tried by the
police's disciplinary committee, which barred him from
involvement in investigating cases for a year. However, no
criminal charges were leveled against him.

Ismoko was transferred from the operational division at
National Police Headquarters after being replaced as the fraud
squad director. Now, he is an advisor to National Police chief
Gen. Sutanto.

The police have questioned a total of 22 suspects, including
police officers, businesspeople and bankers, in relation to the
BNI case.

Separately, Sutanto said a joint team of police officers and
prosecutors had managed to seize Adrian's assets worth $12
million in Los Angeles, the United States.

The asset-tracing team is also striving to secure corruption
assets totaling US$5.2 million in Switzerland, which belong to a
money laundering suspect identified by his or her initials as EN,
who was allegedly implicated in a lending scam at the state-owned
Bank Mandiri.

Apart from than, Sutanto said, the same team would also try to
seize $855,000 from a Hong Kong bank account under the name of
Lisa Santoso, the wife of Irawan Salim -- a fugitive graft
suspect from the closed Bank Global.

Irawan himself also holds a bank account containing $500,000
in the same bank, the police chief added.