Court to issue legal opinion on PwC report
JAKARTA (JP): The Supreme Court will issue a legal opinion on whether the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) should disclose the full report of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit of the transactions relating to the Bank Bali scandal, a government source said.
"The justices are now meeting to decide their opinion on whether BPK should be allowed to fully disclose PwC's audit of Bank Bali to the House of Representatives," the source told The Jakarta Post.
He said BPK asked the Supreme Court to issue a legal opinion on whether the agency should submit the PwC audit report to the House of Representatives despite the banking secrecy code and BPK's internal rules.
The meeting of the Supreme Court was attended by Chief Justice Sarwata, Senior Deputy Justice Ketut Suraputra and six deputy justices -- Yahya Harahap, Soeharto, German Hoediarto, Taufik, Syafiuddin Kartasasmita and Zakir.
Such legal opinions, known as fatwa, are issued by the Supreme Court to help parties settle differences in the interpretation of laws.
The source said the legal opinion would be submitted to BPK on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The agency hired PwC in late August to audit the transactions relating to the high-profile Bank Bali scandal, which allegedly involved associates of President B.J. Habibie.
However, the agency only disclosed an abbreviated version of the firm's audit report, refusing to release the full document.
This has raised speculation that BPK is aiding the government in covering up the scandal, which involves the transfer of Rp 546 billion (about US$80 million) from Bank Bali to PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) as a commission for helping the bank recoup Rp 904 billion in interbank loans to closed banks. EGP is run by two businessmen connected to the Golkar Party, which has made Habibie its presidential candidate.
Bank Bali should not have used the services of EGP because the interbank loans were covered by the government's blanket guarantee program.
There have been allegations that the inner circle of President Habibie was using EGP to raise money to finance Habibie's presidential candidacy.
BPK said it could only disclose the complete PwC audit report to the police and the Attorney General's Office, because to do otherwise would breach the banking law, particularly the banking secrecy code.
"A violation of the law would cause both BPK and PwC to risk a fine of up to $25 million and a four-year jail term," BPK chief Satrio B. Yudono said.
He also said in cases of criminal wrongdoing, an audit report must only be submitted to the police, the Attorney General's Office and the tax office in cases of tax fraud.
Some House members have raised the possibility of a special vote to force BPK to disclose the complete PwC audit report.
As the case drags on, the International Monetary Fund has put its bailout package for Indonesia on hold, saying it will disburse the funds only when the scandal has been satisfactorily resolved by the government.
Police questioned on Monday Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto and State Minister for Empowerment of State Enterprises Tanri Abeng over the Bank Bali scandal, which has engulfed embattled president ahead of an Oct.20 presidential election.
After questioning, both ministers said separately that they were being summoned as witnesses into the case. (udi)