Former minister testifies in Bank Bali trial

JAKARTA (JP): Former Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto, who was also chairman of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), testified on Wednesday that Rudy Ramli, when he was president of Bank Bali, had complained about the difficulties to obtain IBRA funding to cover a loan BDNI Bank owed Bank Bali.

But Bambang said he was not aware about the disbursement of the agency's funds to the bank.

"Rudy Ramli met with me and complained about BDNI's bad debt," Bambang told the Central Jakarta District Court, which is trying Bank Indonesia Governor Syahril Sabirin on charges of corruption.

"But I said that the funds could not be disbursed because it (the situation) did not comply with a joint agreement between IBRA and Bank Indonesia directors," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

The agreement document defined the rights and obligations of liquidated banks, and included criteria regarding inter-bank debt assistance.

Bank Bali's claim could not be approved because it did not fulfill the requirements stipulated in the agreement, the witness said.

Syahril is being tried for his alleged role in the disbursement of Rp 904 billion (US$96.2 million) of IBRA funds to Bank Bali. According to the indictment, the defendant had ordered one of his directors, Erman Munzir, between February 1999 and June 1999, to disburse the money to Bank Bali.

Rp 546 billion (US$58.8 million) of the disbursed funds was paid to factoring firm PT Era Giat Prima as a "commission" for helping Bank Bali reclaim interbank loans owed by several closed- down and taken-over banks. It was not necessary for Bank Bali to use a third party to recoup interbank loans as the claims were guaranteed by the government.

Bambang said that disbursement of the loan owed by Bank BDNI to Bank Bali was based on a recommendation by then IBRA chairman Glenn M. Yusuf.

Bambang was the first chairman of IBRA, which was established by former president Soeharto in late January 1998. After only two months in the position he was replaced by Iwan R. Prawiranata, who survived for approximately three months. The third chairman, Glenn M. Yusuf, served for a turbulent 18 months, while Cacuk Sudarijanto, appointed in December 1999, was replaced by Edwin Gerungan in November last year.

The court also heard the testimony of a former director of Bank Bali, Firman Sutjahja, while Rudy Ramli failed to appear at the hearing due to illness.

Pande Nasorahona Lubis, a former deputy chairman of IBRA, and one the owners of Era Giat Prima, Djoko S. Tjandra, were tried last year for their alleged involvement in the Bank Bali scandal. Both were acquitted of all charges by the same district court.

Erman Munzir will be tried separately.

The case attracted public attention after it was revealed that EGP was owned by people closely connected with a small group in the Golkar Party responsible for the reelection campaign of then president B.J. Habibie, who lost the position in October 1999. (sim)