Graft probes make SOE chiefs nervous

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Intensive media coverage of the current crackdown on corruption in state institutions has created nervousness among many top executives of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and regional administrations as they worry about becoming the next to be investigated.

Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh said on Friday that many of these executives had complained about the stress they were suffering, which affected their performance at work.

"Many governors have talked to the Minister of Home Affairs about this problem and the minister passed on their complaints to the President," he said.

Upon hearing the news, Abdul Rahman said, the President had ordered him not to make any hasty statements to the press that could further upset the edgy chief executives of state banks and state-owned enterprises, as well as governors.

"The bank directors told the President that they are now afraid of disbursing loans" for fear that they could be faulted if the loans turn sour in the future, he said.

Susilo has launched an unprecedented campaign to curb rampant corruption in the country, targeting not only small-time graft cases but also corruption cases committed by top government officials, legislators and the CEOs of state-owned companies and banks.

One example is the current investigation into an alleged massive lending scam worth Rp 1 trillion (US$100 million) at the giant state-controlled Bank Mandiri, a case implicating its CEO and directors as well as top managers of those obtaining loans from the bank.

But Abdul Rahman urged the CEOs not to be upset with the graft investigation, saying that if they had done nothing wrong then they should not be afraid.

"We only catch the bad guys," he said.

He said that the President instruction was the reason why he had lately been refusing to publicly comment on investigations.

"Probably you thought that we were cooling off on the investigations, but the truth is that we are pushing ahead with our probes. It's just that we don't talk much about them," Abdul Rahman said.