IBRA to allow 2 debtors to go free

Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former bankers Sudwikatmono and The Nin King are set to sign a document today with the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) declaring that they had repaid their debts to the state in full.

The signing of the document will clear them from any potential criminal charges, IBRA spokesman Rohan Hafas said on Tuesday.

"Initially, four debtors were to sign similar documents, but it turned out that the other two are not available at the moment," Rohan said as reported by Antara.

The other two bankers are Ibrahim Risjad and Liem Hendra. Liem is the ex-owner of Bank Bumi Internasional, while The Nin King formerly owned Bank Dana Utama, while Ibrahim Risjad was former owner of Bank Risjad Salim, and Sudwikatmono, Bank Surya and Subentra.

No details were made available, but the four are among six former bankers on whom IBRA had completed its review of their debt status -- the results of which showed that all had been cooperative in repaying their debts.

Their cooperation and repaid debts, according to IBRA, entitled them to their cleared debt status, which would effectively clear them of all past charges of violating banking regulations.

Anthony Salim, former owner of Bank Central Asia, and Siti H. Rukmana, former owner of Bank Yama, are the remaining two being granted this status.

All six are among the 35 bank owners who received a collective Rp 144.5 trillion from the central bank at the height of the crisis in 1997-98 to help their banks stay afloat.

Many of them, among the country's richest business tycoons during the economic boom of the late 1980s and early 1990s, were later accused by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) of having misused much of the funds.

Accusations were also rife that most of them had breached bank lending limit regulations, as they channeled most of the bail-out funds into affiliated businesses -- a move considered a crime under the Banking Law.

In an effort to avoid criminal charges, the bankers signed a debt settlement scheme with IBRA that allowed them to settle their debts to the state through cash and assets. The scheme was divided into three categories: Master of Settlement and Acquisition Agreement (MSAA), Master of Refinancing and Note Issuance Agreement (MRNIA) and Deeds of Indebtedness (APU).

Meanwhile, Rohan said the agency had decided to grant the "cooperative debtors" status to eight more former bankers: Honggo Wendratmo, Hashim S. Djojohadikusumo, Njoo Kok Kiong, Suparno Adijanto, Andy Hartawan, Ganda Eka Handria, Philip S. Widjaja and Mulyanto Tanaga. The eight have a combined debt of more than Rp 600 billion.

Debtor Bank Debt (Rp)

Sudwikatmono Subentra & Surya 1.8 trillion

Ibrahim Risjad Risjad Salim 0.6 trillion

The Nin King Dana Hutama 15.1 billion

Liem Hendra Budi Int'l 10.1 billion

Source: IBRA