Court hearing over Bank Bali scandal begins
Court hearing over Bank Bali scandal begins
JAKARTA (JP): The hearing into the Bank Bali corruption
scandal began in the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday
with the reading of an indictment against one of six defendants.
In front of some 40 people attending the session, prosecutor
Ridwan Moekiat said Joko S. Tjandra, an executive of PT Era Giat
Prima (EGP) and the owner of the Mulia group, was involved in the
disbursement of Bank Bali's interbank loans from a closed bank,
an action that resulted in Rp 904 billion (some US$122 million)
in losses for the state.
The state has already recouped the money.
"The defendant violated Chapter 1 of the 1971 Law on
Corruption," the prosecutor said in the hearing presided over by
judge R. Soenarto.
The article carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.
The five other suspects in the 1998-1999 scandal, which
allegedly also involved several people who were high-ranking
government officials at the time, were named by the Attorney
General's Office as Pande Lubis, former vice chairman of the
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA); Tanri Abeng, former
state minister of state enterprises; Setia Novanto, president of
EGP; Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli; and Erman Munsyir, an
executive at Bank Indonesia.
According to Ridwan, Joko collaborated with several people,
including four top government financial officials, in disbursing
the loans.
The prosecutor named the four officials as Tanri Abeng, former
Supreme Advisory Council chairman A.A. Baramuli, Pande Lubis and
central bank Governor Sjahril Sabirin.
Ridwan, reading from a 63-page indictment, said the central
bank in 1998 initially withheld approval for Bank Bali's request
to be reimbursed for bad loans to a closed bank after Bank
Indonesia learned the private bank had failed to meet several
requirements, including missing the deadline for submitting its
request to IBRA.
Joko and Setya Novanto, who together run EGP, the company
which brokered the payment of Bank Bali's interbank claims from
IBRA, along with Rudy Ramli, Bank Bali executive Firman Soetjahya
and Pande Lubis agreed to persuade the top financial officials to
help Bank Bali recover its money, Ridwan said.
The defendant, he continued, then took the initiative to
approach the government figures and meet with them on Feb. 11,
1999, at Hotel Mulia Senayan in Central Jakarta.
The meeting, which discussed the disbursement of the interbank
loans to Bank Bali, was attended by Joko, Sjahril, Tanri Abeng,
Pande Lubis, Baramuli, Setya Novanto and Firman Soetjahya, the
prosecutor told the courtroom.
At the meeting, which was led by Baramuli, it was proposed
that Bank Bali executives compose a letter to the chairman of
IBRA, asking his help in recovering its interbank loans, Ridwan
read from the indictment.
Firman and Rudy wrote the letter, dated Feb. 12, or a day
after the meeting, concerning Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia
(BDNI)'s bad loan to Bank Bali, the prosecutor said.
The defendant also attended several other meetings after May
1999 at Tanri's home, during which the technicalities of the loan
disbursement were discussed, the indictment read.
Joko and Setya Novanto, who at that time was also the
treasurer of Golkar Party, were paid Rp 546 billion through EGP
for assisting Bank Bali in recovering Rp 798 billion in interbank
loans from the closed bank, Ridwan said.
Several reports suggested the money paid to EGP was used to
fund former president B.J. Habibie's run for the presidency.
The same court last year tried four Bank Bali executives --
Rudy Ramli, Firman, Henri Kurniawan and Rusli Suryadi -- for a
cessie contract connected to the scandal.
The court discontinued the trial in December last year, saying
the prosecutor's indictment failed to disclose in detail the role
of the four suspects in the contract.
The judge on Wednesday adjourned the trial until next Monday.
(asa)