Fraud occurs at other BNI branches

Lending fraud cases have also occurred in Bank BNI branch offices in several small cities in the country, according to a document circulating among legislators. This highlights the fragility of the bank's internal supervision and the fact that the old, bad habit of corruption at state-owned companies dies hard.

For example, the use a fictitious collateral letters of credit to obtain loans has occurred at the bank's Pangkalan Bun branch in Central Kalimantan since 2002. The fraud involves around Rp 60 billion.

The Magelang branch, Central Java, has also become a victim, with a potential loss of around Rp 31 billion.

The Banjarmasin branch has also been hit by the practice, with a potential loss of Rp 3.15 billion.

BNI vice president Arwin Rasyid confirmed the report, saying that BNI had experienced several instances of fraud in the past.

"They are all old cases. We have explained to our shareholders that BNI has faced many instances of fraud and that such practices would not recur in the future," he said.

However, BNI president commissioner Zaki Baridwan said otherwise.

"We haven't received the report yet. Just ask someone who knows about it," he said. -- JP