Court asked to dismiss fraud case

JAKARTA (JP): The defense lawyers of two men accused of being involved in forging transfer documents of Bank Indonesia urged the court yesterday to dismiss the case.

The lawyers told the Central Jakarta District Court the prosecutors' indictments were invalid according to law.

They said the indictments failed to support the accusation with details.

Their clients are Naman Kawi and Andi Muis, two of five men charged with defrauding Bank Indonesia of funds worth Rp 7 billion (US$2.9 million) in July last year.

The other three, arrested with the defendants in August, are two employees of the central bank and a businessman. Their cases are being heard in two separate sessions.

Lawyers said the prosecutors had failed to mention how Naman and Andi were involved in the illegal activities and what roles they played.

The prosecutors did not say if the defendants ordered the fraud, executed it, or just played small roles in the case.

Naman's lawyers said the prosecutors' claim that the men had defrauded the bank of Rp 7 billion was also incorrect because the central bank had found Rp 4 billion of the allegedly defrauded amount.

They also argued the court should drop the case because it was investigated by police instead of the attorney general's office as it should have been according to the Law on Corruption.

Andi's lawyers said the indictment did not thoroughly detail the chronology of his alleged involvement. They also said the indictment gave inaccurate figures for the alleged bribery.

"In the figures column Rp 1 million was listed with 'one billion' written in brackets next to it," lawyer Mulfachri Harahap said.

They told the court the defendant could not be charged with breaching the Law on Corruption because it was only applicable to civil servants or people who hold a special function in the administration.

"Andi is neither a civil servant nor a man with a special function in the administration. So, he cannot be charged with violating the Law," Harahap said.

The hearing was postponed until next week. (13)