Government presents dossier of fourth Bapindo suspect

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's office turned over the dossier of the former Bapindo President Subekti Ismaun to the South Jakarta District Court on Saturday. He is the fourth suspect to be tried in connection with the Rp 1.3 trillion ($620 million) loan scam at the government bank.

Chief of South Jakarta District Court Soedjatman, accepting the 1,134-page dossier and 78-page indictment, said he would study the documents before setting the date of the trial and appointing the judges who will try the case.

Soedjatman, who is already presiding over two Bapindo cases being tried in his court, said that Subekti's trial would likely begin in early August.

One case being tried in the court, that of former Bapindo's Jakarta branch deputy manager Maman Suparman, is reaching its final stages with sentencing scheduled for this Thursday. The other case is that of Towil Heryoto, also a former Bapindo president, whose trial only opened last Monday.

Eddy Tansil, the businessman at the center of the Bapindo loan scandal, is being tried at the Central Jakarta District Court.

All four are being charged under the anti-corruption law.

Two other former Bapindo directors -- Syahrizal and Bambang Kuntjoro -- are also under investigation and expected to be charged soon.

The Attorney General's office has appointed Tarwo Hadisadjuri to lead the government's prosecuting team. Subekti is represented by Amir Syamsuddin of the leading law firm Amir Syamsuddin and Partners in his defense.

Three former cabinet ministers are listed among 52 people the prosecutors plan to summon in Subekti's case.

They are Sudomo (former coordinating minister of political affairs and security), J.B. Sumarlin (former finance minister) and Nasrudin Sumintapura (former junior finance minister). All three still hold high government posts, as chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), chairman of the Supreme Audit Board and the DPA member respectively.

Subekti was the bank's president in 1989 when Tansil first submitted his loan application. He had already resigned when the scandal first surfaced in January. (03/05)