Dossiers prepared on Bank Bali suspects

Dossiers prepared on Bank Bali suspects

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office filed on Friday
a dossier on four suspects in the high-profile Bank Bali scandal
to the South Jakarta District Court, only two days after
legislators elected a new president.

The four suspects are businessmen and bankers Henry Kurniawan,
Firman Soetjahja, Rusli Suryadi and Rudy Ramli.

The four suspects are charged with allegedly counterfeiting
banking data which violated Chapter 49 of Banking Law No. 10/1998
and Chapter 55 of the Criminal Code.

For the violation, the suspects could be punished with a
maximum sentence of up to 15 years in jail.

"We are still waiting for the dossiers of two other suspects
in the case, namely Setya Novanto, an executive of the Golkar
Party, and businessman Djoko Sugiarto Chandra," Lukman Bachmid,
head of the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, said.

The two are executives of PT Era Giat Prima (EGP), which
allegedly received Rp 546 billion from Bank Bali as a commission
fee for its help to recoup some Rp 904 billion in interbank loans
on closed-down banks.

Five of the six named suspects have been detained by the
police since late September for their alleged role in the Rp 546
billion scandal. Police have argued that the five were detained
only for "investigative purposes".

But Setya refused to be held by police on the grounds that he
is a legislator and police had to first obtain permission from
the President before sending him to police jail.

Djoko is still being detained at National Police Headquarters.

Lukman said his office had to first complete the indictment by
questioning five other witnesses as required by regulation.

Witnesses include former minister of finance J.B. Sumarlin,
Tonny Sugiri, Irfan Gunardwi, Ermin Riyanto and IN Suwandi.

"We have set up a team of prosecutors which represent the
state during the trial sessions of the four suspects," he told
Antara.

The team members are prosecutors Andi Rahman, Y.W. Mere and
Johnny Ginting, he said.

Henry Kurniawan, Firman Sutjahya and Rusli Suryadi are
currently being detained at Cipinang State Penitentiary, while
Rudy Ramli was being treated for illness at Kramatjati Police
Hospital, he said.

There are allegations that the Bank Bali scandal is linked to
some of former president B.J. Habibie's close aides, such as
former chairman of Supreme Advisory Council A.A. Baramuli.

The government said Bank Bali should not have used the
services of EGP because the loans were guaranteed by the
government. (asa)