Former BI chief Sjahril to go on trial quickly
Former BI chief Sjahril to go on trial quickly
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Provincial Prosecutor's Office will
soon submit the dossier on suspended Bank Indonesia (central
bank) governor Sjahril Sabirin to the Central Jakarta District
Court, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Andi Syarifuddin, assistant prosecutor for special crimes,
said Sjahril was charged with ordering the reimbursement of a Rp
904 billion (US$101.5 million) interbank loan guaranteed by the
government in a move which has become known as the Bank Bali
scandal.
The state prosecutors found that Sjahril had given an order
between February and June of last year to his subordinates to
reimburse the loans using the government's bailout money despite
the fact that the central bank had yet to verify the money market
transactions between Bank Bali and three defunct private banks --
Bank BDNI, Bank Tiara and Bank Umum Nasional. The three banks had
earlier defaulted on their debts.
"Sjahril is accused of having violated Paragraph 1.a of
Article 1 of the 1971 Corruption Law," Andi told journalists at
his office after receiving the dossier and evidence from the
Attorney General's investigators.
Article 1 of Law No. 3/1971 carries a maximum life sentence
and a fine of Rp 30 million.
Andi also said that his office had extended Sjahril's house
arrest status for another 20 days effective from Oct. 18 until
Nov. 6, 2000. The previous house arrest order imposed by the
investigators expired on Wednesday.
"We will file the case with the district court before
Sjahril's current term of house arrest ends," he said, adding
that the prosecutors would present 43 witnesses and one expert
from the office of the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP).
The dossier was submitted by investigators Yan W. Mere and
Joko Widodo from the Attorney General's Office, along with
evidence consisting of the financial reports of the trading and
investment firm PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) and documents belonging
to the central bank and the Indonesia Bank Restructuring Agency
(IBRA).
The case centers around the failure of the three defunct banks
to repay a total of Rp 904 billion to Bank Bali.
Bank Bali subsequently signed a cessie contract with PT EGP to
help recoup the interbank loans and paid Rp 546 billion as
commission to the firm for its' assistance.
However, PT EGP instead delegated its authority to Bank Bali
to recoup the funds itself.
Nevertheless, it is widely believed that a meeting in a hotel
on Feb. 11 last year, which was reportedly attended by Sjahril,
PT EGP executives, Bank Bali executives and several people
affiliated to the Golkar Party expedited the reimbursement of the
funds which were then held by IBRA.
The case has also implicated several others, including PT
EGP's director Djoko S. Tjandra and IBRA's deputy chairman Pande
Lubis.
Pande's trial is underway in the South Jakarta District Court.
The same district court exonerated Djoko of all corruption
charges last month due to errors in the indictment.
Separately, Sjahril said he had yet to think about the trial
or any subsequent sentence, claiming he was innocent.
"If the trial is fair, I'm sure that the court will find that
I'm not guilty.
"I was not involved in the case and I have no idea about the
scandal," he told journalists before leaving the prosecutor's
office. (bby)