EGP letter an attempt to topple President: NU

JAKARTA (JP): Nahdlatul Ulama officials refuted on Friday allegations the organization had been promised US$5 million by suspects in the Bank Bali scandal to mute the case.

The organization's deputy secretary-general, Masduki Baidlowi, denied the organization had ever received any money. He described the allegations as part of the campaign to smear the reputation of Abdurrahman Wahid, who chaired NU before being elected President.

"It's a conspiracy to topple the President. They don't want an NU leader to hold power," Masduki told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

A widely circulated photocopy of a letter with the letterhead of PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) and apparently signed last year by company president Setya Novanto and director Joko S. Tjandra, states the company will donate $5 million to NU if their case is heard in the civil courts rather than the criminal courts, and if the verdict in the case favors the defendants.

The Bank Bali scandal began in 1998 when PT EGP signed a cessie agreement with Bank Bali to process Rp 904 billion in loans owed to the bank by three closed banks. This agreement was unnecessary because the loans were guaranteed by the government.

The Rp 546 billion commission paid to PT EGP allegedly was used to help finance former president B.J. Habibie's reelection campaign.

The South Jakarta District Court cleared Joko of all charges in the scandal on Monday, saying the case was a civil not a criminal matter.

While stressing the organization had not received any money or ever been approached with the offer, Masduki pledged on Friday that if any NU members were found to have received money they would be processed according to the law, as well as receiving organizational sanctions.

PT EGP lawyer Hotma Sitompul also refuted the authenticity of the letter, saying his clients had never made such an offer to NU.

"It's fake and rubbish. Anybody can write such a letter," Hotma said.

Abdurrahman's own National Awakening Party (PKB) also described the letter as part of an effort to topple the President.

"We heard about the rumor a long time ago, but I just saw the letter now," said the secretary of the PKB faction at the House of Representatives, Abdul Khaliq Ahmad.(jun)