Court asked to dismiss fraud case

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)