Gontha questioned over Bank Andromeda scandal

JAKARTA (JP): Businessman Peter F. Gontha was questioned for nearly 10 hours at the National Police Headquarters on Friday over allegations of loan scandals at his Bank Andromeda, which was closed by the government last November.

Gontha, one of the commissioners at the bank, went in at 6 a.m., beating photographers and TV camera crews who had hoped to capture his arrival which had been scheduled for 9 a.m.

At 4:30 p.m., he left the interrogation room and gave a media conference in the presence of his lawyer O.C. Kaligis.

"I was questioned as a suspect. As a citizen, I would take responsibility for everything I have done," Gontha said in response to a question. He refused to give details, but said he was asked a lot of questions by the police team.

When pressed further, he confirmed that officers questioned him about the way Bank Andromeda had used liquidity credits from Bank Indonesia (the central bank), about the process through which the commissioners bought Alfa Bank immediately after Andromeda was closed, and about the financing of the giant petrochemical company PT Chandra Asri in which some of the commissioners had shares.

He declined to mention the amount of the central bank's liquidity credits or whether they had been paid back.

Details were issues for the police, he said.

He denied allegations that he was covering up for Bambang Trihatmodjo, the second son of former president Soeharto who was vice-president commissioner of the bank.

Bambang will be questioned about his role at the bank next week. Several other commissioners and directors of the bank are also being questioned, including noted businessmen Henri Pribadi and Prajogo Pangestu.

At about 4 p.m yesterday, Bank Andromeda commissioner Johannes Kotjo arrived at the police headquarters but left after a few minutes.

Director of the economic unit of the National Police Detective Department, Col. Made Prastika, said Kotjo was not included on the list of commissioners summoned by the police.

Police said on Friday that two Bank Andromeda directors -- Nico Malangkay and Isman Dito -- were still in detention.

Gontha's questioning was interrupted every two hours to allow him to eat and smoke.

Gontha went to the National Police headquarters on Sept. 4 to seek clarification after newspapers reported that arrest warrants had been issued for him and other commissioners and directors.

Police however later changed their story, saying that the summonses were still being prepared. (jun)