Da'i to be summoned over bribery case

Da'i to be summoned over bribery case

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

National Police plan to summon their former chief Gen. Da'i
Bachtiar and ex-chief detective Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng over a
bribery case linked to the investigation into a Bank Negara
Indonesia (BNI) lending scam.

Police internal affairs division head Insp. Gen. Yusuf
Manggabarani said on Friday that all those implicated in the
bribery case, including the four-star general and his
subordinate, would be questioned.

"We will investigate them all. If we want the police
institution to be deemed clean, then the probe must not exempt
anyone," Yusuf said, declaring that he had no fear of questioning
police officers of higher rank.

Da'i and Erwin were implicated in the case after their
subordinate Sr. Comr. Irman Santosa, who was one of the police
investigators dealing with the BNI lending scam, reportedly
testified that the two each received a total of Rp 1 billion
(US$100,000) in bribes from former BNI director Mohammad Arsjad.

The bribe was apparently intended to influence these senior
officers into halting the investigation into the bank fraud.

Yusuf, who also heads the probe into the BNI case, denied
reports that Irman's testimony claiming that Da'i and Erwin took
the bribe was included in Irman's case file.

"I have read the case file and there's no such a statement,"
he said.

However, this would not deter the police from questioning all
those who may have been involved in the bribery case, Yusuf
stressed.

Da'i, Erwin and Arsjad have all denied any role in the bribery
case and accused Irman of giving a false statement to police
investigators.

Irman was arrested in September after police investigators
found evidence that he was involved in the escape of a key
suspect in the BNI scandal, Adrian Waworuntu.

Adrian fled the country last year but police recaptured him,
and a district court sentenced him to life in prison in March.

Adrian was found guilty of swindling around Rp 1.7 trillion
from the state-owned bank, which he and his accomplices had
managed to obtain by using fake letters of credit.

Apart from Irman, police internal affairs division had also
questioned 15 officers -- comprising former chief of the team
tasked with investigating the BNI fraud, Brig. Gen. Samuel
Ismoko, and his subordinates.

Ismoko was later dismissed from the team, and a police
disciplinary committee barred him from any involvement in
criminal investigations for one year. The same committee also
banned Irman from serving as a police investigator.

Yusuf, who replaced Ismoko as chairman of the BNI
investigative team, said the police would complete Irman's
dossier before opening the probe into Ismoko's alleged role in
the same case.