Govt bans 172 bankers from traveling

Govt bans 172 bankers from traveling

JAKARTA (JP): The government issued travel bans on 172 bankers
on Thursday, almost three weeks after the closure of 38 ailing
banks.

Director General of Immigration Muhammad Mudakir said on
Thursday the ban was imposed at the request of Minister of
Finance Bambang Subianto.

"I received the request at 2:50 p.m.," Mudakir said.

Earlier in the day, Bambang said he had requested the Ministry
of Justice to ban "more than 170 bankers" from traveling abroad
due to debt problems.

But a Bank Indonesia senior official, who requested
anonymity, said the central bank recommended on March 15 the
names of 178 bankers to be included in the travel ban list.

Bambang said the bans were necessary because the bankers would
be needed for questioning by the finance authority regarding the
failure of their banks.

Mudakir said the travel ban would be effective for six months
and could be extended at the request of the finance minister.

He declined to identify both the bankers and their banks.

"I do not remember each and every bank's name, but there are
172 people, 11 of them are women."

He also refused to confirm whether members of former president
Soeharto's family were among those banned from traveling abroad.

On March 13, the government announced the closure of 38 banks
-- including three institutions owned by Soeharto's children --
in a bid to clean up the country's ailing banking sector.

The banks were saddled with massive bad loans and had breached
their legal lending limits,

An announcement concerning the travel bans was initially
expected from Minister of Justice Muladi earlier in the week, but
was postponed because the finance minister had not provided him
with the list.

Republika daily reported on Wednesday that some 100 bankers
had managed to flee the country because the government had been
slow to issue the travel bans.

"If they have fled the country, it is the duty of the National
Police to cooperate with the international police to bring them
back," Mudakir said on Thursday.

Questioning

When asked about the travel ban, Bambang said: "It's not easy
to come up with the list. We have to check it thoroughly because
this would affect a person's reputation."

He added that some bankers would not be included in the list
because the government was convinced, based on various
considerations, that they would make themselves available when
needed for questioning.

He said a team from Bank Indonesia, the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency and the Ministry of Finance would question
the bankers and verify various data provided by the banks.

The government has provided a massive amount of money as part
of its commitment to guarantee all deposits in commercial banks.

Bambang said names on the travel ban list differed from those
on the list of errant bankers, which the government would not
disclose publicly.

The chairwoman of the Federation of Domestic Private Banks,
Gunarni Soeworo, said it would be wrong to publicly disclose the
names of errant bankers because such as announcement would need
prior judicial process.

She has urged that the list of errant bankers be used only for
internal government purposes.

Separately, a senior government official said some bankers had
been lobbying President B.J. Habibie to exclude them from the
list of those to be prohibited from travelling overseas.

Many suspect lobbying has been rampant in the country's bank
restructuring program. The postponement of the closure of the 38
banks, initially scheduled for Feb. 27, was seen as one example.
(byg/rei)