Former police detective chief named suspect in graft case

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung was declared a criminal suspect on Tuesday for allegedly abusing his power when investigating a high-profile scam at Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).

The three-star police general, who is currently the deputy governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas), is accused of taking a bribe from BNI graft convict Adrian Waworuntu.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko said that Suyitno had been questioned for nine hours on Tuesday. However he refused to detail the allegations against the suspect.

"He was questioned as a suspect because we consider that he abused his power when he was supervising the investigation into the BNI case," Soenarko said.

The charge against Suyitno is a major step in the government's campaign to eradicate corruption in the country.

However, Suyitno was not detained, unlike his two subordinates -- Brig. Gen. Ismoko and Sr. Comr. Irman Santoso -- who had previously been named suspects in the same case.

Ismoko is accused of acting beyond his authority by giving the bank fraud suspects, including Adrian Waworuntu, special treatment, and for taking bribes from them in the form of notebook computers and cellular phones.

The BNI case centered on the issuance of fictitious letters of credit by the state-run bank's Kebayoran Baru branch in South Jakarta, causing the state to suffer some Rp 1.7 trillion (US$175 million) in financial losses.

The loan scam was made possible due to collusion between certain bank officials and a number of businessmen linked to a company called PT Gramarindo.

Former BNI compliance director Mohammad Arsjad had also been detained for his alleged role in the fraud case.

Businessman Adrian was sentenced to life in prison by the South Jakarta District Court for his leading role in the scam.

At least seven other suspects, several of them BNI officials, have also been jailed on charges stemming from the scandal.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) hailed as "positive" National Police chief Gen. Sutanto's efforts to resolve the high-profile bank scandal.

"The progress of the case never got this far when it was investigated under the previous police chief," ICW deputy coordinator Lucky Djani told The Jakarta Post, referring to Sutanto's predecessor Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.

However, Lucky said it should be realized that Suyitno was only one among many names in the police force who have been linked to criminal practices including corruption and bribery.

"Criminal investigations into these officers are extremely important in order to set an example for others. We hope that it could be the start of internal reform within the police force," he added.

Other three-star police generals have also been investigated for separate crimes, including National Police head of general supervision Comr. Gen. Binarto.

Binarto had to face a police disciplinary committee after an East Java water police officer admitted that he had been ordered by Binarto to release a vessel that had been seized carrying smuggled fuel off Surabaya. The vessel's owner was reportedly a friend of Binarto.

Comparing the police force with the military, Lucky said graft cases in the military were not investigated seriously by law enforcers.

"We all know there are budget mark-ups in the military and also in the prices of equipment they have bought, which surely involves huge amounts of state money," he added.

He urged law enforcement agencies to start investigating corruption cases in the military, which observers have said lacks transparency in the management of funds for procurement and security operations in the troubled areas of Aceh, Papua and Poso in Central Sulawesi.