Detention urged for charged bankers
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Antigraft activists urged the Attorney General's Office on Friday to detain three top Bank Mandiri officials named suspects in a lending scam to prevent them from fleeing the country.
"The attorney general should consider the possibility (of the suspects) fleeing the country even though they have been banned from traveling abroad," said Ismed Hasan Putro, chairman of the non-governmental organization Professional Civilian Society, which was set up by a group of financial analysts in Jakarta to promote good governance.
He said detaining the suspects would also serve to send the message that the government was serious about fighting corruption.
The Attorney General's Office recently declared Bank Mandiri president E.C.W. Neloe, vice president I Wayan Pugeg and director for corporate banking M. Sholeh Tasripan suspects in an alleged lending scandal. The case centers around the channeling of over Rp 12 trillion (US$1.28 billion) in loans to some 28 companies.
Though the three officials have been named as suspects, prosecutors have not detained.
On Thursday, lawyers for the three bankers asked the Attorney General's Office not to detain their clients during the investigation into the case. The lawyers offered promises their clients would not flee the country, pointing out that a travel ban had been imposed and that the bankers had thus far cooperated with authorities.
The lawyers also requested that the scheduled questioning of their clients be delayed from Monday because the bank will hold a shareholders meeting on that day.
Responding to the request, Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Hendarman Supandji said he would reschedule the questioning for Thursday.
Discussing the issue of detainment, Attorney General's Office spokesman R.J. Soehandojo said only investigators from the office had the power to decide whether the suspects would be taken into custody.
"We have to wait for their decision on whether the suspects will be detained or not," Soehandojo said.
In addition to the three Mandiri executives, the Attorney General's Office earlier named four suspects from four of the 28 companies allegedly involved in the scam. The companies are PT Lativi Media Karya (LMK), PT Siak Zamrud Pusaka (SZP), PT Cipta Graha Nusantara/Tahta Medan (CGN/TM) and PT Artha Bhama Texindo/Artha Tri Mustika Texindo (ABM/ATM).
The four suspects, including a gubernatorial candidate for the Riau Islands province, have been detained.
Soehandojo said the Attorney General's Office was conducting preliminary investigations into two other debtor companies, PT OSO Bali Cemerlang and PT Batavindo Kridanusa.
"So far we have not found any juridical aspects that prove these two companies were involved like the four we previously investigated," he said.
Last Wednesday, the Supreme Audit Agency submitted the results of audits of five debtor companies to Bank Mandiri. The five companies are PT Bakrie Telecom (owned by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie), PT Semen Bosowa (owned by Erwin Aksa, a nephew of Vice President Jusuf Kalla), PT Domas Agro Inti Prima (Domba Mas Group), PT OSO and PT Batavindo.