Gowa fingers BTN directors for graft
Gowa fingers BTN directors for graft
JAKARTA (JP): The non-governmental organization Government
Watch (Gowa) filed a report at National Police Headquarters on
Monday against current and former members of state Bank Tabungan
Negara (BTN)'s board of directors.
The report accused two current and three former board members
of graft. Gowa coordinator Farid Faqih said the scam, in which
the five men allegedly used money from the bank's so-called
"representation fund" in April 1999 to pay insurance premiums for
their retirement plans, caused the state Rp 1.6 billion in
losses.
"The use of the fund (to pay their personal insurance
premiums) was unlawful because the fund was not meant for
personal use," Farid said after filing the report, adding that
Gowa had adequate evidence to back its allegation.
He distributed copies of the insurance premium payments and
said the allegation was made based on Gowa's own investigation.
According to Farid, the representation fund was a budgeted
fund allocated for miscellaneous expenses, such as commissions
for associates who deposited large amounts of money in BTN.
He said that people who took money out of the fund were not
required to supply the bank with documents showing what the money
had been used for.
Farid said the disbursement of money from the fund was
controlled by the bank's treasury division, then under the
direction of the five men named in the report: Wahjudianto,
Siswanto, Tito Soetalaksana, Pandansih and Badruszaman.
Farid said the five used money from the fund to pay their
insurance premiums at PT Asuransi Jiwa BNI Jiwasraya.
Siswanto and Badruszaman are still members of BTN's board of
directors, he added.
Farid explained his organization had contacted the bank to
confirm the matter, and had received a letter from the bank's
board of directors saying the money had been returned.
"But it is not about whether the money has been returned or
not, but why they did it in the first place," he said.
Farid admitted the amount of money involved in this case was
relatively small compared to similar cases, but it demonstrated
the faults of the country's banking system.
The deputy director of corruption at National Police
Headquarters, Sr. Supt. Indarto, who received Gowa's report,
refused to comment on the case. But Farid said the police
promised to study the case and would call Gowa sometime next week
to discuss the matter.
Contacted by The Jakarta Post, a member of the bank's board of
directors, Soeryanto, said Gowa's report was groundless since the
insurance policies had been canceled and the money returned to
the bank.
"The bank actually profited from the cancellation of the five
insurance policies," Soeryanto said, claiming the bank received
more than Rp 2 billion by canceling the policies.
He said keeping such "representation funds" was common
practice at many banks. "Such funds are used, for example, to
finance a golf tournament between the bank's executives and their
colleagues from other companies as a promotion for the bank,"
Soeryanto said, adding it would be difficult to specify exactly
how the money in such funds was used.
He, however, admitted such funds were not in keeping with the
spirit of reform in the country, which demands greater
transparency. "But such practices are still going on. That's the
reality in our country."
Gowa was the first to disclose the Rp 35 billion scam at the
State Logistics Agency, which involved President Abdurrahman
Wahid's personal masseur, Soewondo, who is still at large. (08)