Former police detective chief named suspect in graft case
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.