Djoko tells court how he spent Bank Bali money

Djoko tells court how he spent Bank Bali money

JAKARTA (JP): Businessman Djoko S. Tjandra, a defendant in the
high-profile Bank Bali scandal, told the South Jakarta District
Court that he used Rp 434 billion (US$47 million) of Rp 546
billion paid to PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) to recoup interbank loans
for Bank Bali.

Djoko told the court that another party which used the
questionable funds -- paid to PT EGP for recouping Rp 904 billion
worth of interbank loans -- was PT Unggaran Sari Garment of the
Texmaco Group, which borrowed Rp 112 billion.

"I borrowed the remaining Rp 434 billion as a personal loan
from EGP, which was agreed upon by EGP's chief commissary
Buntaran and EGP president director Setya Novanto," Djoko told
the hearing, presided over by judge Soedarto.

Djoko is a director at EGP.

Djoko said of the Rp 434 billion, he lent Rp 47.3 billion to
businessman Arung Gauk Jarre, reportedly a close friend of former
state minister of the empowerment of state enterprises Tanri
Abeng.

At a previous hearing, Arung confirmed the loan from Djoko,
but said he had no idea about the source of it.

Djoko said he also lent Rp 10 billion to Buntaran, Rp 2
billion to Setya Novanto and Rp 25.4 loan to PT Glora Raya Dian
Abadi, a company which is linked to Arung.

"The remaining Rp 349.3 billion I used," Djoko said, without
further explanation.

But Djoko said the entire Rp 546 billion was returned to the
PT EGP account in Bank Bali.

He said he was informed on June 2 last year by then deputy
director of Bank Bali Firman Soetjadja, that the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA) had transferred Rp 904 billion to
Bank Bali.

"The next day, I issued a memorandum to Bank Bali to transfer
Rp 546 billion to PT EGP's account."

Djoko said the first transfer, worth Rp 404 billion, was made
on June 3 last year and the remaining was transferred a week
later.

The scandal originated from the failure of three private banks
-- Bank BDNI, Bank Tiara and Bank Umum Nasional -- to repay a
total of Rp 904 billion to Bank Bali, a debt which remained until
the three were closed by the central bank in late 1998 due to
poor financial records.

Bank Bali then asked the government for the loan disbursement
as it was put under the restructure program.

The bank, however, agreed to pay Rp 546 billion to PT EGP as a
commission to help recoup the interbank loans from the closed
banks under the supervision of IBRA. (ylt)